Bechtel updates 2016 study for a Guyana deep-water port
Bechtel is checking whether a port on the Atlantic coast could give northern Brazil a sea route.
Demerara Waves reported that Bechtel, a US engineering and procurement company, has a contract to update a study for a deep-water port in Guyana. The Guyana government hired the firm to update work the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) did around 2016. A feasibility study checks whether a project can work.
The story was published on 23 October 2026. Two days earlier, on 21 October 2026, Briefs Finance reported that Pastuszek said Bechtel is reviewing whether a port on the Atlantic coast of Guyana could give northern Brazil a sea route. The review builds on IDB analysis from a decade ago.
Demerara Waves put the cost of the proposed port at US$1 billion to US$2 billion. Bechtel says Chevron declined to pay for the port's engineering and design after it bought Hess's shares.
HPC Hamburg Port Consulting said the IDB hired it to measure the size of the shipping market in Guyana. It also looked at cargo from the Brazilian states of Amazonas and Roraima. That cargo might move through a Guyana port.
INews Guyana reported that the final results of that market study were shown in Georgetown in November 2016. The study was part of a project for a land transport link and a deep-water port.
MTBS (Maritime & Transport Business Solutions) said the IDB also hired it for a separate study. The IDB asked MTBS to look at whether a new deep-sea port in Guyana was workable and to assess possible sites. It ran from April 2018 to August 2019.
Stabroek News reported on 19 March 2015 that Guyana had been looking at a deep-water port on the Berbice River since at least that year. A Chinese firm offered to pay for an early study itself. The offer was on a BOOT basis, which stands for Build, Own, Operate and Transfer.
Kaieteur News reported in April 2026 that Bechtel was working with the government to finish plans for the port. It said the firm has worked on deep-water ports in the United Arab Emirates, Australia, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Guyana Times reported that the Bechtel study on the proposed Berbice deep-water port should be done in about two months. After that, the government will decide how to go ahead.
The story was first reported by Demerara Waves.