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‘With transparent oil management, Guyana could become regional model’ …Analyst tells CNN
Prosperity Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel operating on the Stabroek Block
Kaieteur News – A political analyst at the Florida International University, Imdat Oner told CNN that elections in Guyana without major conflicts “would demonstrate that sudden oil wealth doesn’t have to erode democracy, as happened in Venezuela.”
Oner, who was a former Turkish diplomat in Venezuela, stated too, “If the next government manages this boom with transparency and stronger institutions, it could be an example for the entire region. That’s why these elections are important.”
Currently, oil is only being produced from the Stabroek block, which is operated by American oil giant ExxonMobil. There are four developments Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2, Payara and Yellowtail, currently in production with a combined installed capacity to 900,000 barrels per day (bpd). In addition, Exxon has two other sanctioned projects under its belt: Uaru and Whiptail. It has also submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its seventh project, Hammerhead, with production targeted for 2029.
Additionally, the company has filed an application for an eighth development, Longtail. By 2030, ExxonMobil Guyana expects to have total production capacity of 1.7 million oil equivalent barrels per day from eight developments.
Further, speaking with CNN, Benjamin Gedan, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University and former director for South America at the US National Security Council, said that this exponential growth driven by the energy sector has also transcended its own borders and attracted global interest at a key moment, when major producers like Russia and Iran are subject to sanctions.
Gedan, who is also the director of the Latin America Program at the Wilson Center, further noted that the last electoral process plunged the country into a prolonged and destabilizing political dispute. Notably, he traveled to Guyana in March, where he met with President Ali and other officials.
With these elections, Gedan does not rule out the possibility of new social tensions that could deepen polarization along ethnic lines, which he believes could interrupt the country’s development “and make it more vulnerable to potential interference” from Venezuela.
“Guyana’s current growth rate is truly impressive,” Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told CNN. He said the country will need to “manage its new wealth” in a way that achieves growth “in an inclusive and stable way.”
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