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The Government of Guyana has handed fuel supply contracts to BB Energy to service two powerships supporting the national electricity grid, according to reporting by Kaieteur News. The arrangement bypassed the country’s National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, raising questions about the transparency of the procurement process.
The two vessels currently leased—a 36-megawatt facility in the Berbice River and a 60-megawatt vessel in the Demerara River—are supplied by Karpowership. A third powership expected to deliver 300 megawatts is reportedly in the pipeline. Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed has previously questioned the government’s continued reliance on temporary powership solutions rather than permanent infrastructure investments, and has raised concerns about whether officials may be benefiting from fuel supply arrangements.
BB Energy, controlled by Lebanon’s Bassatne family, carries a troubling international record. The company was implicated in a major corruption investigation into a "tainted fuel" scandal documented by Daraj Media and L’Orient Today. In Lebanon, it served as a hidden subcontractor for an Algerian state oil subsidiary’s 15-year no-bid fuel monopoly—an arrangement a Lebanese investigative judge ruled violated public tendering laws.
More recent concerns emerged in September 2026 when The National reported that Lebanese prosecutors expanded a criminal probe into forged-origin fuel imports. Shipping records allegedly showed BB Energy delivered fuel cargo aboard the tanker TM Hai Ha 568 sourced from Linxoil, described as part of the UK- and EU-sanctioned 2Rivers Group Russian "shadow fleet" network. The company has also faced high-stakes litigation in London’s Commercial Court with South Sudan over a US$100 million crude oil prepayment dispute, while a Singapore court judgment documented testimony that Bassatne executives instructed staff to omit fuel cargoes from schedules provided to auditors.
Members of the Bassatne family have appeared in the ICIJ Pandora Papers and Panama Papers offshore leaks. Additionally, the company’s London trading arm has paid over 350,000 British pounds to sitting Conservative MP Sir John Hayes as a strategic adviser, according to the UK Parliament Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
Guyana has faced persistent electricity supply challenges and has increasingly turned to temporary powership solutions to meet grid demand. The two current vessels, leased from Karpowership, represent a stopgap measure rather than permanent infrastructure development. Opposition figures have questioned both the sustainability and the financial arrangements surrounding these temporary power generation contracts.
This story reflects broader governance and transparency concerns affecting Caribbean nations, particularly regarding procurement practices and the risks of awarding major infrastructure contracts without competitive bidding. Guyana’s experience with BB Energy illustrates how international corruption networks and shadow economy operations can penetrate regional energy sectors, with potential implications for other Caribbean governments evaluating similar fuel supply and power generation partnerships.
Sources and attribution
- Kaieteur News
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