Govt to support local private sector in building capacity to trade crude oil – Pres. Ali

President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that the government will actively support the local private sector in building the technical and human resource capacity needed to effectively participate in the trading of crude oil.

He made the remarks today during a breakfast brief hosted by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) under the theme “Power Guyana’s Future: Guyana’s Path to Sustainable Development”.

ExxonMobil and its partners are producing approximately 650,000 barrels of oil per day from the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. With the recent successful startup of a fourth FPSO, the ONE GUYANA, the company anticipates growing production to more than 900,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of the year.

British firms BB Energy Trading Limited and JE Energy have been contracted by the Guyana Government to market crude oil from the Liza Unity, Prosperity, and Destiny FPSOs. Both companies had previously marketed Guyana’s oil in 2023-2024.

But according to President Ali, these services can be provided by the local private sector.

“The real wealth of Guyana will not only flow from beneath the sea, but from creativity, from the creativity of our people on land. And this is why the business community must ask itself: ‘will we be mere suppliers to an oil industry? Or will we be creators of industries of our own?’,” he told members of the business community gathered at the event.

“I will be working with the local private sector and international partners to ensure that we develop our capability and capacity in crude oil trading. We must be able to trade our crude oil from Guyana with the infrastructure, with the human capital, and with the market skills. And that is going to create enormous opportunities for us,” President Ali said.

“We have to get those who have already done it for other countries to work with us in transferring the knowledge…maybe to enter a partnership for the next three, four, five years until we get the experience to do it on our own. These are the bold decisions that we must embrace. These are the bold ideas that will take us from where we are to where we want to be,” the president added.

BB Energy Trading Limited and JE Energy were selected to market Guyana’s crude oil following a competitive procurement process that commenced in September 2024 and saw 27 bids being submitted to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.

The Ministry of Natural Resources had revealed that the Guyana Government will be receiving a combined US$1.85 premium per barrel for the sale of the crude oil.