GUYANA · OIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Key Facts
- —The country Guyana is a small South American nation and a major offshore oil producer.
- —Why it matters Chevron, a US oil major, owns 30% of Guyana’s giant Stabroek oil block.
- —Why now A US engineering firm says Chevron declined to fund the port’s design.
- —What happened Bechtel says Chevron would not pay for design of a US$1 billion to US$2 billion port.
- —What it means for you US export credit and Gulf investors are named as possible backers.
- —Still open Chevron has not been quoted, and no final cost, site or funding plan is set.
In Plain English
A deep-water port is a harbour deep enough for the largest cargo ships. The proposal is for a new one on Guyana’s Atlantic coast.
Bechtel is a US engineering and construction company that Guyana’s government hired to study the project. Hess was a US oil company that Chevron bought in July 2025, and Bechtel says Hess had paid for the first port studies.
EXIM is the US Export-Import Bank, a federal agency that finances American exports. A feasibility study tests whether a project is practical and can earn enough to repay its backers.
Bechtel, a US engineering firm, says Chevron has declined to fund engineering and design work for a proposed US$1 billion to US$2 billion Guyana port. Its Guyana manager, Harry Pastuszek, made the remarks at a panel discussion at the World Trade Centre Guyana, as reported by Demerara Waves Online News on Friday 23 October 2026.
Chevron holds a 30% stake in Guyana’s Stabroek oil block, which it gained when it completed its purchase of Hess on Friday 18 July 2025, according to Chevron’s own filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The port matters to the oil and gas sector because Guyana’s government describes it as support for a planned second gas project, and the current study also tests whether it could open an Atlantic route for northern Brazil.
Neither Chevron nor the Guyanese government is quoted in the report we reviewed, so every detail here is Bechtel’s account and Chevron’s reasons are not known. Pastuszek himself added “no shade thrown at Chevron”.
What Bechtel Said About Chevron
Pastuszek told the panel that Bechtel finished an early engineering study about two years ago to work out what a port would cost and how it should be designed. He said Hess funded that work “with a notional agreement that they would continue to fund in partnership with the government as we pushed forward”.
Then Chevron acquired Hess and, in his account, decided not to continue the plan it had inherited. He quoted Chevron as asking “Why would we?” before declining to go ahead.
Demerara Waves said it was told that Hess spent $4 million on the initial studies, but the report does not state the currency. Chevron has not been quoted in that report, and we found no Chevron statement on the port.
Why the Guyana Port Matters to US Readers
Chevron says the Stabroek block holds more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent of discovered recoverable resource. Guyanese officials present the Guyana port as part of the infrastructure for developing that gas and the industries around it.
The Department of Public Information, Guyana’s government news agency, wrote on 18 September that the port is expected to support the planned second gas development after the gas-to-energy project at Wales. Demerara Waves adds that the government plans data centres, fertiliser plants and possibly a refinery in the same part of the country.
A second pitch is geographic, and it comes from the advisers studying the project. Jamie McInerney of the CrossBoundary Group told the panel that moving goods from Manaus or northern Brazil over a road being built on the Guyana-Brazil border to a Guyanese port “could be a shorter, more reliable route for manufactured goods”.
For the latest on that border link, see our report Guyana, Brazil Weigh Military Ties on 23 Oct. Our guide Who Runs Guyana’s Economy, the Key Players in 2026 explains who holds the money behind these plans.
Who Could Pay for the Guyana Port
Bruce Ellsworth, the senior commercial officer at the US Embassy, told the panel that the US Export-Import Bank has already handed the Guyanese government a letter of interest to finance the phase three engineering design study. He said he hopes that happens “very quickly after the feasibility study is done”.
Demerara Waves said it was told that phase would cost about US$50 million. A letter of interest is a first signal and not a loan, and the report gives no approval or signing date.
In a special interview that the Department of Public Information published on 23 September, President Irfaan Ali spoke of Qatari investment interest, and the agency’s report says Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the US Export-Import Bank have all signalled interest in a port expected to cost billions of US dollars. At a press conference reported on 18 September, Ali said the financing structure would decide how fast related investments, such as a refinery, can move.
Demerara Waves reports that Ali recently said Qatar wants to put in some unspecified financing. INews Guyana reported on 13 October that the US Export-Import Bank had already offered to finance the facility, under a 2022 agreement of up to US$2 billion for projects across several sectors.
Two Sites and a Study Under Way
Two locations are being considered, according to Demerara Waves: Crab Island at the mouth of the Berbice River, and the old proposed CGX shorebase. INews Guyana wrote in September that the port is earmarked for the Crab Island and No. 19 area in Region Six, near the CGX wharf.
Pastuszek said the government has now contracted Bechtel for a feasibility study that updates work the Inter-American Development Bank did around 2016. Demerara Waves also reports that the CrossBoundary Group is conducting the feasibility study, without explaining how the two roles divide.
McInerney said his team is gathering data to put “hard numbers” on demand and throughput, and to judge whether the port is “bankable”. Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat said in September that the study should finish within about two months, after which the government will decide its next step.
Shipping executive Chandradat Chintamani told the panel that a deep-water port in Berbice would need a dedicated 100-kilometre “superhighway” to move cargo to Georgetown. That road would be a further cost on top of the port, and no figure for it has been published.
What It Means for You
Chevron and ExxonMobil shareholders should note that nothing in the sources we reviewed links the port decision to Stabroek output or start-up dates. The port is a support project for Guyana’s gas and industry plans, and its financing is still being built.
For US lenders and contractors, the one named lender in the reports we reviewed that has put anything in writing is a US agency, and only as a letter of interest. Our guides Guyana Geopolitics Explained 2026 and Guyana Signs US Defence Pact on 21 October show how closely Washington and Georgetown are now working.
Readers tracking the oil side can also see Exxon Yet to Seek Guyana Licence Extension. For the political backdrop, our explainer Guyana Politics Explained, Who Holds Power in 2026 names the decision makers.
What Is Not Known
We found no statement from Chevron or from the Guyanese government on Bechtel’s account. The claim rests on one remark by Bechtel’s Guyana manager, reported in detail by one local outlet, and the date of the panel is not given in that report.
A Bloomberg headline dated 21 October carries the same claim, but we did not open that article. The currency of the reported $4 million and the US$50 million figures is not stated by the source, and we report them only as relayed.
Bechtel’s range of US$1 billion to US$2 billion is lower than the “billions” in the government information agency’s report, and no final cost has been published. It is also unclear who will pay for the road, whether Qatar or Saudi Arabia have committed money, and where the work of Bechtel and CrossBoundary overlaps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Chevron stop funding the Guyana port studies?
Bechtel says Chevron declined to continue what Hess had started after buying Hess. Chevron has not been quoted, so its reasons are not known.
How much would the Guyana port cost?
Bechtel’s manager described a proposed US$1 billion to US$2 billion facility. Guyana’s government information agency says it is expected to cost billions of US dollars.
Where would the port be built?
Two sites are being considered, Crab Island at the mouth of the Berbice River and the old proposed CGX shorebase. Both are in eastern Guyana.
Who could pay for the port?
The US Export-Import Bank has given Guyana a letter of interest for the next design study. The government information agency says Qatar and Saudi Arabia have also signalled interest.
When will the feasibility study be finished?
Minister Vickram Bharrat said in September it should take about two more months. After that, the government will decide how to proceed.
Sources: Demerara Waves Online News, 23 October 2026; Department of Public Information, Guyana, 18 September 2026; Department of Public Information, Guyana, 23 September 2026; INews Guyana, September 2026; INews Guyana, 13 October 2026; Chevron filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, 18 July 2025.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief