New Amsterdam’s wharf used to load mainly rice and rum. Now welders eye offshore schematics pinned to canteen walls. Exxon’s eighth Stabroek development, green-lit in March, will pump 1.5 bcf of gas and 290,000 bpd of condensate from the Whiptail field.
Supply-chain spill-over
Berbice shipyards expect tenders for pipe racks, while the Canje Road industrial estate angles for warehouse contracts. Regional officials lobby for the gas engines of supply vessels to be serviced at the Number 66 Port, not Trinidad.
Job-creation maths
A University of Guyana study forecasts 1,800 indirect jobs in Region 6 over three years—triple today’s oil-related payroll. Skeptics point to previous projects where “local content” meant clearing bush, not skilled labour.
Community concerns
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Traffic: Heavy-haul convoys will share the Corentyne Highway with school buses.
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Housing: Rent in New Amsterdam has already jumped 22 % year-on-year.
Regional authorities plan a modular housing scheme on unused sugar-estate land, hoping to avoid a rent spiral that priced nurses out of Georgetown.
Berbice people know how commodity booms can bust—ask any former cane-cutter. But there’s a cautious optimism that this play, if governed wisely, might finally bridge the Berbice River with opportunity instead of only a floating bridge.
