Friday, March 21, 2025
By EARYEL BOWLEG
Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
THE government has signed two agreements to facilitate the development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Clifton Pier, with officials projecting $50m in annual fuel savings during the project’s first phase.
The first agreement, a Terminal Development and Use Agreement, was signed with New Providence Gas (NPG), a subsidiary of FOCOL Holdings Limited. The second agreement, for LNG supply, was signed with Shell.
The terminal will be built in phases, with the first two expected to cost just under $200m. FOCOL and Shell will jointly construct and finance the terminal. A government-owned special-purpose vehicle will purchase LNG from Shell and resell it to various power generators.
Transport and Energy Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis said the agreements would accelerate the transition to LNG in The Bahamas. She explained that in the first phase, a small-scale LNG vessel chartered by Shell will deliver LNG onshore, where it will be converted into natural gas at the terminal later this year. Initially, the gas will be used in turbines at Clifton Pier, with later phases expanding its use to other power facilities in New Providence.
Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis described the agreements as vital to the country’s energy reform and economic development strategy. He said the development of the LNG terminal at Clifton Pier would help The Bahamas transition to cleaner energy, with phase one set to begin before the end of the year. He added that integrating LNG into the fuel mix would reduce reliance on diesel and oil, significantly cutting carbon emissions while also providing more stable and affordable fuel costs.
Mr Davis pointed to the impact of the Equity Rate Adjustment (ERA), saying that 58,000 households had electricity bills below $125 in January.
He also outlined plans to expand solar energy across several islands, including Abaco, Andros, Eleuthera, Exuma, New Providence, Long Island, and San Salvador, while modernising the power grid to improve reliability and reduce costs.
Attorney General Ryan Pinder said the government expects LNG to be in the country by November 1, with the terminal operational by that time. He explained that as additional power generation units come online and the terminal expands in phases two and three, the capacity to offload gas will increase. He said the goal is to have a full LNG supply in New Providence within 18 months, capable of meeting the entire base load of Bahamas Power and Light (BPL).
Mr Pinder also highlighted the economic impact of the project, estimating that phase one alone would result in $50m in annual fuel savings for consumers. By phase four, he projected yearly savings could reach $180m, freeing up significant funds that could circulate through the economy, support small businesses, and create new investment opportunities.
FOCOL Holdings chairman Sir Franklyn Wilson said the initiative would provide a more reliable energy supply while lowering costs and promoting environmental sustainability. He added that the project would strengthen the country’s capital markets, stimulate economic growth, and demonstrate a commitment to long-term environmental responsibility.
Comments
ExposedU2C says...
Is this the same LNG terminal facility that the Bahamian people resoundingly rejected years ago (as did Florida) because of grave safety and environmental concerns?
Are residents of Albany and Lyford Cay, and nearby commercial businesses, going to find that their annual insurance premiums soar because of the close proximity of this LNG terminal facility? If something goes horribly wrong, or the facility is subject to some sort of terrorist type attack, the devastating blast area from the explosion would likely be huge.
Is Shell North America behind this LNG facility with the help of their greedy and forever evil Snake in the background?
Posted 21 March 2025, 5:30 p.m. Suggest removal
ExposedU2C says...
Pintard and his fellow FNM parliamentarians have already let corrupt Davis sweep way too many controversial and very non-transparent deals under the rug, involving the crooked likes of Tony Ferguson, Snake, and their fellow greedy marauders who drool at the prospect of literally stealing everything they possibly can from the Bahamian people using so called Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs).
These PPPs are designed to take away from the Bahamian people, for pennies on the dollar of true value, profitable national assets that are mismanaged by personnel appointed by our corrupt and incompetent elected politicians, like Davis and Cooper. And these same corrupt and incompetent politicians just so happen to be financially-backed by the thieving corrupt marauders who use PPPs as their modus operandi of choice for fleecing the Bahamian people.
The theft of our nation's main electrical generation and power grid system by a group of greedy marauders led by Tony Ferguson and Snake is another shining example of corrupt Davis participating in the fleecing of the Bahamian people by way of a PPP.
Posted 21 March 2025, 5:32 p.m. Suggest removal
Porcupine says...
50 million is less than what this administration spends on travel expenses.
We just took out another 100 million dollar LOAN from IDB for Water & Sewerage.
Where will Davis be when all these interest payments and principles come due?
Slimey is as slimey does.
Posted 22 March 2025, 8:03 a.m. Suggest removal
ExposedU2C says...
The Business Editor, Neil Hartnell, wrote the following which appeared in the November 26, 2024 edition of The Tribune:
> The Attorney General yesterday confirmed that Shell’s Bahamian subsidiary, which generated $1.6bn in pre-tax profits in 2023, will be subject to 15 percent corporate income tax on those earnings in future.
>Ryan Pinder KC, in a messaged reply to Tribune Business inquiries, reiterated that imposition of the just-passed Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT) on the energy giant’s local affiliate - as well as other Bahamian entities that are part of major multinational groups - will generate “significant” and much-needed extra revenue for the hard-pressed Public Treasury.
>Speaking after it was revealed that Shell Western Supply and Trading paid nothing in direct taxes to the Bahamian government on those $1.6bn profits, he explained that the DMTT’s enactment will ensure this nation and its people now receive some benefit from these mammoth earnings.
>Tribune Business calculations show that the Public Treasury would have received close to $240m had the DMTT, which gives legal effect to the 15 percent corporate income tax, been in place to capture the Shell subsidiary’s 2023 profits. The $240m is higher than the Government’s own estimates for when the tax has been in place for a full year, with forecasts ranging from $140m to $200m.
As a integral part of this LNG terminal facility, our corrupt PM and his doofus AG have no doubt cut a most corrupt deal with Shell Oil's hugely profitable oil trading operation in The Bahamas (known as Shell Western Suppy & Trading or SWST) and various entities controlled by the evil and insatiably greedy Snake whereby the annual 15% Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT) our nation was expecting to receive from SWST will now be significantly reduced. This tax for 2023 would have amounted to $240 million based on SWST's profits for that year.
Yes indeed, corrupt deals are being cut here that will result in our nation's coffers being robbed of mega millions of dollars in annual taxes. Pockets are being lined here at great cost to the Bahamian people. Are the EU and OECD global tax regulators fully aware of what is going on here? Neil Hartnell should be asking the hard questions to the right people and avoid having way too many free lunches and dinners with the evil and insatiably greedy Snake.
Posted 23 March 2025, 11:35 a.m. Suggest removal
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