President Dr. Irfaan Ali says a feasibility study — which includes determining an ideal location — for a deepwater port in Guyana’s Berbice region should be completed by the end of this year.
Once done, the government will seek to advance the project alongside several interested partners: the US Export-Import Bank, UK Export Finance, and the Qatari Investment Authority.
“By December, when the feasibility is completed, we will have a meeting with all the investors to move this forward,” President Ali told Fueled on the sidelines of a shipping conference in Georgetown on Monday.
American engineering company Bechtel was contracted to conduct a feasibility study, updating analysis first completed around 2016 by the Inter-American Development Bank on the potential for an Atlantic port in Guyana to open access to northern Brazil. Potential sites for the port include Crab Island at the mouth of the Berbice River and the site of the former CGX shore base.
The project has navigated a recent setback. It was Hess Corporation — before its acquisition by Chevron in July 2025 — that had funded the preliminary engineering and design work. After the acquisition, Chevron declined to continue funding further studies. Even so, President Ali emphasised that the government is forging ahead with the project with support from several partners.
The US EXIM Bank has expressed interest in financing the project’s next phase. Its Chairman, John Jovanovic, issued a letter of interest in April for financing the engineering design study that would follow the feasibility work. After meeting President Ali in New York in September, the government said the Bank is expected to be part of a team financing the port — estimated to cost between US$1 billion and US$2 billion.
Last week, US Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot hinted that a US company is among the top bidders. And President Ali noted that the government is in talks with partners to advance the project.
“The deepwater port is an important part of our development strategy… it is critical for the building out of our economy and for our diversification,” Ali told Fueled.
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