Guyana Shorebase, NCB Merchant Bank sign US$10m loan

NCB Merchant Bank (TT) Ltd (NCBMBTT)– a subsidiary of the Jamaica-based NCB Capital Markets Group – has signed an agreement with Guyana Shorebase Inc (GYSBI) for the disbursement of a syndicated term loan to the value of US$10 million.

GYSBI is a Guyanese majority-owned company that provides a multi-use facility offering support and logistical services to satisfy the highly specialised needs of Guyana's oil and gas industry. Fourteen international oil companies are currently engaged in petroleum operations onshore and offshore in Guyana’s territorial waters.

This loan facility will allow GYSBI to expand its capacity in the delivery of secure open and covered storage, berthing for supply vessels, operational personnel, and loading/unloading logistics support. GYSBI offers services ranging from waste management, chemical storage, warehousing, construction, supply chain management, expatriate management, and customs and logistics services. The company currently has four berths, 30 acres of developed land at its main port and owns and manages 140 acres of industrial estate.

Guyana’s estimated reserves at August stands at more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent and 13.2 billion cubic feet of associated gas. With an estimate of 750,000 barrels of oil per day in the next two years and potential revenues of US$50-US$200 billion by 2050, the industry is ramping up for the long haul.

NCBMBTT has been providing financing in Guyana since 2015. It was part of a wider NCB syndicate out of Jamaica that extended a US$20 million loan to the Guyana Sugar Corporation, and in 2020 NCBMBTT arranged financing for Nabi/KCL Oilfield Construction Services JV to aid in their construction of a corporate campus in Ogle, Guyana for a prominent energy company.

“We were able to provide financing that is flexible, forward thinking, and facilitative of GYSBI’s business model”, said Marli Creese, head of corporate and investment banking at NCBMBTT. “By taking the time to understand Guyana Shore Base, we were able to create a custom-tailored financial solution.”

GYSBI general manager Robert Albiez stated that, “This bridging loan agreement is a precursor to a more significant multimillion-dollar deal involving NCBMBTT and three other Guyana banks to provide capital for projects that will further build and enhance GYSBI’s capacity to support ExxonMobil’s offshore drilling campaign.”

The NCB Financial Group has assets of US$12 billion, a capital base of circa US$1 billion and is publicly traded on the Jamaica and TT stock exchanges. It trades under the ticker symbol NCBFG.

In 2015 Muneshwers Ltd, Pacific Rim Constructors, LED Offshore, and Total Tec Oilfield Services – all companies with relevant experience and expertise, combined interests to establish Guyana Shorebase Incorporated. The company was later awarded a five-year mandate to provide ExxonMobil with shore base services which has been subsequently extended to 2032. With the increasing demand for services, GYSBI will now be able to provide increased services as a single source resource to the sector.