On February 17, 2023, the International Energy Conference Guyana 2023 came to a close. The morning session featured speeches from various representatives, including those from SBM Offshore, ExxonMobil Guyana, Halliburton Caribbean Geo Market, Spherex Analytics, the University of Guyana, and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Recurring themes of: economic transformation, recruitment and training, and opportunities for youth were introduced to the audience of young professionals and students in attendance. Highlights from the speeches are summarized below.
Bobby Gossai Jr. from the Ministry of Natural Resources discussed the employment of young people in the growing oil and gas industry. He highlighted the gap between current supply and growing demand for qualified skills at a technical level. Mr. Gossai shared some of the efforts being made by institutions in the country to offer training to young people interested in entering the industry. He further emphasized the importance government has placed on investing in people and infrastructure to drive development and improvements.
Continuing the theme of people and infrastructure investment, Joel Bhagwandin from Spherex Analytics explained the concept of ‘brain drain’ and the need to offer more opportunities for educated people in the country to enable local Guyanese to play an active role in how the energy sector evolves.
ExxonMobil Guyana representative Leonard (Ryan) Hoppie talked about the support his organization is offering young people in the country, particularly those in STEM fields and with persons with disabilities. ExxonMobil has also created programs to provide mentorship and internship for young people, opening doors that were previously inaccessible. Hoppie encouraged young people to take advantage of these opportunities to play an active role in the growth transformation in the region.
Grace Hutson from Halliburton, spoke on the role of students in the conversation on energy and shared details about the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. She offered guidance to young adults with ambitions to enter the oil and gas sector, emphasizing the importance of being proactive to gain exposure and experience through networking.
Finally, Norwell Hinds analyzed the conference theme “Harnessing Energy for Development” and discussed the various ways the University of Guyana has adapted to cater to the needs of the growing oil and gas sector through courses and research. He highlighted the potential need for roughly 200,000 professionals across various industries in this thriving sector.
Overall, the final session of the International Energy Conference Guyana 2023 helped clarify a path for local involvement that engages and maximizes youth potential in a manner that sees the oil and gas boom directly powered by the next generation.
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to attend second edition of The International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana 2023
The International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana 2023 today announced that the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley has confirmed his attendance and will deliver remarks on the opening day of the second edition of the event. Dr. Rowley is among a number of Heads of State and Government expected to attend the event.
Chairman of the International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana 2023, Anthony Whyte said, “We are extremely pleased to see that Heads of Government across the region and globally are recognizing that Guyana is leader in this part of the world when it comes to energy talks and are taking the opportunity to be part of the conversations that will shape the approach to energy development over the next few years.”
Whyte added, “Trinidad and Tobago has been a producer of energy for decades and we believe that their experience could help our sector realise its full potential. We are excited to host Prime Minister Rowley and the other heads of state scheduled to attend the conference and expo.”
The Conference, which is expected to assemble policymakers, academics, industry professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world, will also again see the participation of global energy thought-leaders, most notably, Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development.
The Conference and Expo will be held from February 14-17, 2023 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Georgetown, under the theme ‘Harnessing Energy for Development’.
The registration portal for the conference and expo can be found on the conference website, www.guyanaenergy.gy. Pre-registration is now open for sponsors, exhibitors, in-person attendees, virtual attendees, workshop participants, and members of the media, all being done online.
Guyana Opens Offshore Bid Round
Guyana President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has launched Guyana’s competitive bid round for 14 offshore oil blocks, comprised of eleven shallow water blocks and three ultra-deepwater blocks.
Officially open today, December 9th 2022, the bid round is expected to be open for 4 months and will close on April 14th 2023.
With the massive potential for “25 billion barrels”, President Ali outlined that evaluations of the proposals will take place and following an expedited negotiation period, awards of blocks are expected in Q2 2023.
Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat is expected to publish a notice in the Official Gazette in keeping with the Petroleum Act.
Guyana has seen extraordinary success with offshore discoveries in the last 5 years. The country continues to grow and expand the opportunities to increase production and the inflow of investment into the energy industry and other sectors. The largest upstream player to date has been Exxon, who produces more than 340,000 barrels of oil per day from two FPSOs. The company has had significant success in Guyana and indicates that additional FPSOs are already in development for future projects.
The government has made it clear in the past that the industry must be to the benefit of all Guyanese citizens. At the launch of the bid round, President Ali, stated, “We are hoping that there will be maximum participation and that Guyana would be part of a partnership that creates greater benefit and greater wins for our country and our people.”
Improved fiscal terms have been outlined that provide greater balance of the share of revenue between the government and contractor, while maintaining Guyana’s competitive edge in the region globally.
The International Energy Conference and Expo will take place from February 14-17 2023 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel. At the conference there will be keynote addresses by the leadership of the country including: His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana, Prime Minister Mark Anthony Phillips, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat.
At the conference we will also hear from senior experts in Guyana’s oil and gas sector, including John Hess, Chief Executive Officer, Hess and Alistair Routledge, President, ExxonMobil Guyana.
Preliminary works start for Gas to Power Project in Guyana ahead of FID
President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge told a news conference yesterday that preliminary works have begun along the route of the pipeline in the West Bank Demerara.
The Gas to Power project involves the construction of a 300mw combined cycle power plant and a natural gas to liquids facility.
Routledge said that in order to ensure the gas-to-energy plant begins electricity generation in 2024, the company has been pushing ahead with “early works”. Such effort includes the construction of roads, bridges and laydown areas on the West Bank Demerara.
The Guyana government has already contracted an American joint venture, CH/LindsayCA, to build the natural gas-fired electricity plant and the natural gas liquids plant for US$759 million.
Exxon and the Ministry of Natural Resources are currently engaged in a review of the Field Development Plan and the update to the licence for the Liza field. Routledge said that once this step was completed, the company would be able to make the final investment decision (FID) around requirements for the project to proceed.
As part of the project, Exxon would be selling the 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to the government entity for use at the electricity generation and natural gas liquids plants.
Furthermore, construction of a 200 kilometre long gas pipeline to bring the gas to shore will commence at a cost of approximately US$1b. Mr. Routledge said that gas sales will cover the cost of the infrastructure without profit, which means that it can deliver gas at a very low price to the country.
This falls in line with the government commitment amidst the energy boom to ensure the creation of prosperity (as outlined in the recent Energy Perspectives podcast featuring Dr. Peter Ramsaroop). Mr. Routledge further added that electricity produced by natural gas would cost 50 percent less than current fuels.
In November 2022, the Guyanese government green lit the project and at the time, President of Guyana, His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali made it clear that the offshore gas drilling taking place at breakneck pace must benefit the Guyanese people as a whole and not just those connected to the business. This project, while stabilizing energy distribution in the region, will lead to lower energy costs, significantly while maximizing the use of by-products from drilling.
VSH United (Guyana) Inc was established on May 2015 in Georgetown, Guyana. Specialises in safety products, logistic services, real estate. They are also the sole distributors for Ansell and HexAmour.
SBM Offshore has announced that it has completed the project financing of FPSO ONE GUYANA for a total of US$1.75 billion., 
The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), operating under the Ministry of Tourism Industry and Commerce is a semi-autonomous governmental organization responsible for standards and quality in Guyana. There role is to:
