A high-level team from Guyana recently participated in an Oil and Gas Seminar in Houston, Texas. The team was led by Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, and included Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar, and representatives from the local private sector and other agencies.
Dr. Jagdeo, at the seminar, argued a convincing case for optimising Guyana’s hydrocarbon reserves within the broad parameters of a safe and secure environment.

Oil, and by extension gas, is a non-renewable resource which has the potential to lift the country to new levels of economic prosperity. For far too long we have been dependent on a narrow range of exports, mainly in the area of agriculture. Rice and sugar were the two main export commodities, but unstable prices on the world market have resulted in severe disruptions in export earnings with dire consequences for the economic and social life of the Guyanese people.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of sugar, which is still reeling from steep cuts in the price of sugar on the world market following the end of European Union preferential prices under the Lomé Agreement. Thousands of sugar workers were thrown on the breadline, a situation further compounded by the vindictive and short-sighted policies of the previous APNU+AFC coalition government.

Fortunately for Guyana, a new lifeline was thrown with the discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities, something that has proven elusive over the several decades. Even more fortuitous is the high quality of our crude, which makes is much more competitive on the international market. Guyana is fortunate to have a sweet, light crude, which is the preferred type from which the highest value of petroleum products are derived.

Over nine billion barrels of oil-equivalent resources have been found offshore Guyana since 2015 by US oil major, Exxon Mobil, with actual production commencing in December 2019. A total of three projects have been sanctioned so far, with a fourth awaiting approval. Several other discoveries have been made, which are at different stages of development.

Few can deny that these developments are already impacting positively, in terms of local content and job creation, not to mention new investment opportunities and cash inflows.

The fact of the matter is that the window for extracting and marketing our oil reserves is not infinite, and, as pointed out by Vice-President Jagdeo, time, therefore, is of the essence. It is one thing to be concerned about the impact of oil and gas on the environment, but to ignore the riches that will emanate from the sale of oil would also be foolhardy, if not disingenuous. As pointed out by Dr. Jagdeo, there are concerns regarding the impact of fossil-based fuel on the environment, and by implication climate change. But, as he correctly observed, the extraction will be based on sound environmental standards, and within the broad parameters outlined above of the country’s low-carbon development strategy.

There are some who express opposing views because it seems ‘fashionable’, while others do so with political motives in mind. A few with dubious credentials have now become ‘experts’ in the field, and are by no means shy in offering their newly-acquired ‘expertise’.

While the importance of strong environmental protection measures cannot be downplayed, it has to be seen against the backdrop of an enormous potential oil has in transforming the country to a much higher level of prosperity, and in terms of poverty reduction. It is important to have the right balance between environmental protection and wealth generation, something the current administration has been paying full attention to.

Guyana has gained the attention of the world, and has been catapulted to the league of oil-producing nations. The recent Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas will provide an opportunity for Guyana to showcase its oil potential, and at the same time exchange technical knowledge relevant to the development of offshore energy resources, especially in the oil and gas sector.

As Guyana’s President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali said, oil and gas will result in an explosion of opportunities, both directly and indirectly on an unprecedented scale, even though it will not supplant existing sectoral development, especially agricultural development.

Guyana’s participation in the summit will help to advance the process of making oil and gas a ‘blessing’ rather than a ‘curse’, by drawing on best practices among oil- producing nations, and at the same time avoiding the pitfalls and mistakes of some countries where oil has been a resource curse rather than a blessing.

The Guyana Government has given a firm commitment to ensuring full transparency and accountability in the management of the oil-and-gas sector. This is, indeed, a step in the right direction.