Guyana to use oil sector as trade leverage, Caribbean-wide energy mix – Ali

Last Updated on Sunday, 26 January 2025, 21:25 by Writer

President Irfaan Ali says his administration intends to use the oil sector as a mechanism for trade negotiations and he identified ExxonMobil and its co-venturers in the creation of a Caribbean-wide energy mix.

He believed that the construction of an oil refinery in Guyana could position the country to become a leader in the Caribbean with the eventual production of one million barrels per day. “There must be something that could give us energy dominance in the region. It must be an investment that allows us to convert our crude for benefit of our population and into positioning of our country,” he said.

Dr Ali said “positioning power” is a tool in trade negotiations, in an environment of unequal trade platforms in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). “It is all about positioning power. We’re humble about it but we’re not shy about it,” he added. Guyana has over the decades complained about non-tariff barriers for entry of honey to Trinidad and Tobago, as well as agricultural exports to a number of other regional sister states.

The President said the new US$260 million shorebase at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Demerara, owned by the Guyanese-owned consortium of NRG Holdings and the Belgium-headquartered Jan de Nul Group, would position Guyana as leader in regional logistics. “This is that one additional asset that allows us to build one of the best marine industries and marine sectors in the region… that positions us to build transport and logistics hub and link that is key and critical and brings new opportunities with it,” he said at the commissioning of the facility. That shorebase, which was constructed on an artificial island, has been contracted by ExxonMobil for another 20 years to provide subsea umbilicals, risers, flowlines support for several new offshore oil well developments such a Yellowtail, Uaru, Hammerhead and Whiptail.

Regionally, the Guyanese leader indicated that he expected ExxonMobil and its co-venturers—Hess and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)—to work with Guyana in securing itself “as a major mover and shaker in the energy market within the region.” He tasked them with the development of a project that is beyond the scale of Guyana to create new energy and wealth. “It will be a complete misalignment of our energy strategy if our intention is not to position Guyana strategically in the energy mix of this region and to do that we need Exxon and the partners and we need all the other international partners,” he said.

President Ali said a second gas project and a deep-water port would be constructed in Berbice as part of efforts to structurally transform Guyana and generate and sustain jobs.