President of the Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Chamber, Dr Thackwray Driver, has urged companies in that country to capitalise on the many opportunities now available in Guyana’s oil sector.
Driver was quoted in the Trinidad Guardian newspaper today as saying that there is a “huge” opportunity in Guyana’s oil sector, especially with the ExxonMobil find. He also pointed to Suriname as a potential market since that country is also involved in exploration activities.
Driver spoke to the Business Guardian on day three of last week’s Energy Conference and explained the rationale behind dedicating a panel discussion on Guyana and Suriname.
Attending that panel discussion were: Jeff Simons, country manager, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana; Marny Daal-Vogelland, manager, petroleum contracts, Staatsolie in Suriname and Nigel Hughes, director, Guyana Oil and Gas Association.
According to the Trinidad Guardian report, during the panel discussion, Daal-Vogelland said Staatsolie was looking for partners to develop its Block B and Block C which are part of the nearshore fields in Suriname. “We are looking for partners to develop it further with Staatsolie.”
Staatsolie supplies crude oil to Guyana for its bauxite industry and for electricity, she said.
Describing Guyana as a “good” neighbour, Daal-Vogelland said Guyana, Suriname and T&T are all small countries so the best alternative is for Staatsolie to work together with those countries because, “we don’t have the critical mass to do things alone. By partnering we will all be better off. Trying to do everything yourself is not going to be very smart.”
The key to partnering, she said, is that everyone must know what their stake is, and what their responsibilities are so “things would flow better.”
With the price of oil hovering around US$55 a barrel on the global market, Daal-Vogelland said that is a “good” price for Staatsolie. “Our wells are very shallow so our costs are not the costs that you’d probably have in the deeper waters, that’s a big plus.”
Driver’s comments on Guyana follow the huge oil find that global energy giant ExxonMobil confirmed in Guyana last year.
In mid-2016, ExxonMobil had announced that it discovered oil at its Liza-2 well with a predicted 800 million and 1.4 billion oil-equivalent barrels to be obtained.
“There are a lot of business opportunities which have been developed coming out of that trade mission and we are doing a conference again with the Guyana Oil and Gas Association in March,” Driver said.
