THE local oil-and-gas sector has caught the attention of several investors from the Kingdom of Norway who are in Guyana to explore various opportunities for investment.
Those investors are from 21 companies which form the Norwegian Energy Partners (Norwep), an organisation founded by the Norwegian Government and the Norwegian Energy Sector.
The group made its way to Guyana following a visit to Suriname, and was facilitated here by Norwep Adviser and President of the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC) Manniram Prashad.
Prashad told the Guyana Chronicle that Norway is one of the leading countries in oil and gas, and a number of the companies based there are looking to expand their operations in the Guyana and Suriname markets.
Prashad, who welcomed the investors with a reception at the Palm Court, said that the delegation was able to meet with the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, and even hold discussions with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Repsol Guyana, and SBM Offshore among other local agencies.
He related that the response from the Government of Guyana and other energy partners has been good, and is a clear indication that there is a bright future for Norwep in Guyana.
Director of Norwep in the Americas (excluding Brazil), Hakon Skretting said that the “fact-finding” mission to Guyana was fruitful.
Skretting told this newspaper that he’d visited Guyana once before some three years ago, and that the country has developed quite a lot since then.
He noted that it was quite interesting to meet with a number of the agencies and ministries in Guyana, but when asked about Norwep’s interest in Guyana and what sectors they are interested in investing in, he replied: “We are interested in everything that has to do with oil and gas; absolutely everything!”
Without going into too much details, Skretting said that the various companies within Norwep have vast expertise in the oil-and-gas industry, globally, and will bring innovative technologies and more to the sector here.
Representatives of Norwep are expected to meet with Tullow Oil and ExxonMobil Guyana before heading back to Norway.
Development in Guyana’s oil-and-gas sector is being driven by the operations of ExxonMobil, which has four sanctioned projects offshore Guyana.
Of those projects, the Liza Phase One is producing approximately 130,000 barrels per day, using the Liza Destiny floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, while the Liza Phase Two, which started production in February of this year, is steadily ramping up to its capacity of 220,000 barrels per day, using the Liza Unity FPSO vessel.
The third project, the Payara, is expected to produce 220,000 barrels per day; construction on its production vessel, the Prosperity FPSO, is running approximately five months ahead of schedule, with start-up likely before the end of 2023.
The fourth project, the Yellowtail, is expected to produce 250,000 barrels per day when the One Guyana FPSO comes on stream in 2025.

HUGE BENEFITS
“These projects will bring huge benefits to Guyana,” ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge said recently during a brief interview.

Reports are that returns from the sector are expected to catapult Guyana to the ranks of wealthiest countries in the Western Hemisphere, thereby increasing the government’s fiscal space to invest in initiatives geared at expanding the economy, and improving the overall welfare of citizens.

“Guyana is now poised to be one of the wealthiest countries in the hemisphere; we intend to employ the gains from exploiting these deposits into initiatives geared at expanding the economy, improving competitiveness, giving people the best social services, increasing productivity, enhancing food production, and building new sectors,” President, Dr. Irfaan Ali had said in his keynote address during a virtual faculty workshop on the microeconomics of competitiveness hosted by the Harvard Business School.