THIS year’s petroleum summit, Guyana International Petroleum Business Summit(GIPEX 2018) has received a further boost as Spanish company Repsol Exploracion Guyana S.A. and Canadian Company CGX Energy Inc have signed on to the event as Gold Sponsors.

According to a release from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), the move comes weeks following ExxonMobil’s support of the event as its Strategic Partner. The MNR said that the inaugural GIPEX 2018 will be held from February 7 to 9, 2018 at the Georgetown Marriott Hotel and will be hosted by the ministry with the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) playing an organising and leadership role for the event.

It noted that Valiant Business Media of the United Kingdom is working along with Go-Invest and the MNR in organising the event. “The event aims to present investors with options to explore the huge hydrocarbon potential of Guyana and will provide a networking platform for existing petroleum companies, service providers, equipment companies and investors,” the ministry said.

It noted that GIPEX 2018 will also provide a space for researchers/scientists and academics to share their work, while the participants from industry can promote their products. In addition, the event will lay the foundation for establishing a dynamic relationship between the MNR and the private sector with full cooperation from other government departments, all working to make Guyana a favourable and pro-business destination.

Guyanese Professor, Suresh Narine, Chairman and Executive Director (Guyana), CGX Energy, noted that the company is delighted to be a Gold Sponsor of the event. He said the event will also provide an opportunity for local companies and institutions to be showcased and to interact with their international counterparts – an essential step towards Guyanese individuals, institutions and businesses participating in this emerging industry.

CGX Energy will donate booth space to the University of Guyana, the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs and several indigenous organisations, so that they can participate fully in the event. Narine said that as a long-standing exploration company in the Guyana Basin, CGX is firmly focused on expanding the basin’s economic promise by continuing its exploration of the Corentyne, Demerara and Berbice Blocks.

He said as an early investor in Deep Water Port infrastructure in Guyana, CGX is also focused on continuing to play its ground-breaking role in the expanding petroleum opportunity for all Guyanese. Ryan Ramjit, Country Exploration Manager Guyana and the Eastern Caribbean, Repsol Exploracion Guyana S.A., stated that the company remains committed to success in oil-and-gas exploration in Guyana and the company appreciates its role as a Gold Sponsor of the event.

Shariq AbdulHai, Managing Director at Valiant Business Media, said his company welcomes Repsol Exploracion Guyana S.A. and CGX Energy Inc. as Gold Sponsors in GIPEX 2018.
“Both Repsol and CGX Energy are important stakeholders in the petroleum sector of Guyana and should further help us provide useful information to the people of Guyana through the convention. We are looking to confirm a number of more international and local businesses who would set up booths in the exhibition area of the convention. [Repsol’s and CGX’s] presence in the event should also provide an opportunity for Guyanese businesses to meet and discuss the ways of getting involved with the sector,” said AbdulHai.