‘How many of the 640,000 barrels of oil per day Guyana willing to give CARICOM neighbours for energy security?’ - T&T Minister asks at oil conference

‘How many of the 640,000 barrels of oil per day Guyana willing to give CARICOM neighbours for energy security?’ – T&T Minister asks at oil conference

Feb 22, 2024 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

President of Guyana, Dr. Irfaan Ali and T&T Energy Minister, Stuart Young

By Kiana Wilburg

Kaieteur News – President Dr. Irfaan Ali has often articulated his interest in ensuring that his country is a leader on climate, energy and food security. With particular reference to the country’s push for energy security, as well as that of the Caribbean region, Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Minister, Stuart Young recently questioned if Guyana is willing to make a tangible contribution to this cause.

During his participation at the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo on Tuesday, Minister Young said, “…I have one simple question, out of the 640,000 plus barrels of oil that is being produced by Guyanese natural resources, owned by the people of Guyana, how much of that is actually being utilised for the energy security of the region?”

The Energy Minister was also keen to note his country’s ability to help Guyana with the development of its gas resources, noting that there is extensive infrastructure in his country for processing of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

He said, “…we have existing capacity at our plants and what we are looking for is access to proven reserves of gas. That can be and must be an important part of the solution for the other CARICOM islands as they move to changing out or updating their energy production and electricity production because they can use LNG and natural gas in the production of their electricity.”

He added, “…but we must have access to those proven reserves of gas.”

Ahead of the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo, President Ali conducted an interview on the event’s Energy Perspectives Podcast, where he spoke about Guyana’s role in regional energy security.

Given the nation’s oil and gas wealth in the ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek Block, Ali was told that many of Guyana’s regional partners are expecting that it plays a leading role in regional energy security. On this he said, “I don’t think we have a role, we have a responsibility. We are part of a region and I believe that part of our responsibility is to ensure that the region has reliable energy, affordable energy and we will be working with our regional partners on a mechanism through which we can help the region in having affordable energy and reliable energy.”

He further noted his belief in the need for greater integration while calling for the removal of all barriers to trade. “I want us to work on removing all the barriers so that this region could be producing all the food that we need for ourselves with Guyana of course playing a key and important role, not because of anything else, but because we have a competitive advantage here,” said the president.

The Guyanese leader also stressed that he intends for Guyana to be known for more than just oil. “We want to be known as a country with a diversified economic base that is providing leadership on food, climate, energy, and has the highest level of skill, human resources, and of course, a country that is the premier ecotourism destination,” the president concluded.

climate, energy, ExxonMobil, food security, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago

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