Latest update February 20th, 2025 12:39 PM
Govt. unbothered by Trumps’ drill-baby-drill campaign impacting oil prices – VP Jagdeo
…says Exxon still investing in Guyana
Kaieteur News- Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo during a question-and-answer segment on day one of the 2025 Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo made it clear that Guyana is not worried about the new United States-administration policy in relation to ramping up oil and gas production there.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo
In 2025, although Guyana’s daily production is expected to climb, the country will see a decrease in earnings from the sector, as oil price is likely to come down by 10.9%. This was disclosed by Guyana’s Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh. He had explained that this decline in oil prices is primarily due to slowing global demand, particularly in China. Oil prices will decline this year as global supply is expected to outgrow global demand.
U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that the new administration will be supporting new oil and gas production and exploration.
Senior Vice President of Global Energy and International Affairs at S&P asked the Vice President on Tuesday, “…You have now President of the United States that says, drill baby, drill. More oil. It’s going to come onto the market. Chinese demand is tailing off, and market is going to be absorbed by somebody else worried about it.”
In his response, Vice President Jagdeo stated, “I’m not, I’m not.”
Jagdeo supported his unbothered comment by stating that American oil giant, ExxonMobil Corporation, who is operating in Guyana through its subsidiary ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) has recently submitted its plans to have a seventh and eight project approved by the Guyanese government.
EMGL is the operator of the prolific Stabroek Block which is estimated to hold 11.6 billion barrels of oil. To date, Exxon has received government approval for six projects in that block, and has the aim of producing 1.3 million barrels of oil daily by 2030. Currently, oil production offshore Guyana is over 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) from just 3 projects. The fourth project is expected to start production later this year.
Jagdeo further explained why he’s not worried about Trump’s policy, “because Exxon has just started, submitted the documents for the approval process to start our seventh and an eighth project. They were expanding capex in Guyana, the United States of America, in spite of what President Trump has said, and I’m sure that they intend to make the regulatory environment more favourable to the growth of the oil and gas industry in the United States of America, but we believe that you’re not going to have a major supply response to that.”
He underscored that investment in oil and gas production are made by private companies.
To this end, he reminded that Exxon is a “very big and complex corporation.”
He went on to state that Exxon studies the oil market.
“They probably know the oil markets more than any government official, and they’re willing to expand their production here, clearly they see in the future a demand for fossil fuel, and they believe that in Guyana, we have a unique opportunity to supply that market, low break-even cost, the quality of our food is great, so I’m not worried about it,” the Vice President said.
Moreover, Jagdeo said that he believes that the demand for fossil fuel will remain “relatively high” as the growth in demand for fossil fuel will not be displaced in a “major way” by renewable energy.
“So, I’m not worried too much about the new environment or the US position in relation to the oil and gas industry and whether it would flood the market with cheap oil,” Jagdeo said, adding, “And if the prices come down, as President Trump wants the price to come down, then it would also make some of the existing operations in the United States, particularly with fracking, it may make them not feasible.”
Nevertheless, the Vice President expressed support for the growth of the industry in Guyana. He also attributed this to the rate at which the government has been approving projects.
However, he highlighted that the government will not put all of its eggs in one basket.
(Govt. unbothered by Trumps’ drill-baby-drill campaign impacting oil prices – VP Jagdeo)
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