Govt in bilateral talks with Dubai for closer economic ties – Ali

…says UAE investors expressing “aggressive” interest in Guyana

President Dr Irfaan Ali, currently in Dubai for the 2020 World Expo, has revealed that Guyana is in bilateral discussions with Dubai/the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to explore ways the two States can enjoy closer economic ties.

President Ali made this revelation during a press conference with the Guyanese delegation attending Dubai Expo 2020. He explained that Guyana has much to offer, from its oil and gas sector to its agricultural capacity.
And partnering with Dubai, which is a thriving oil producer, would certainly be of benefit to Guyana. The President explained that they have already started engaging different arms of the State and talks are at the bilateral level.
“We have started this process, even before the Expo. I must say we have had very aggressive interest from various investors in the UAE. Government arm investors also. Let us face the facts. You have in the UAE a very modern system, technologically driven. A very efficient system. And many areas of development, you have specialised yourself.”
“Whether it’s the smart grid, the one card information management system, or oil and gas, shore-based facility, deep water port, and all of these areas, engagements have already commenced with various arms of the Government. We’re now at a bilateral Government to Government level,” he said.
According to the President, these engagements allow them to explore how they can share experiences and a mutual development framework. Ali noted that these discussions are also taking place at the Private Sector level. In fact, he made it clear the importance of the Private Sector and urged them to get on board.
“We have very sophisticated investors here, investors with the capital. But important to those investments would be local content. And that is why it is so important that the local Private Sector is here,” President Ali said.
“The head of our airport authority is here. The head of the local Private Sector arm for oil and gas is here. We have investors in the oil and gas sector. And we want to bring the private sectors of both countries together, to drive this development agenda. And we’re here to share the vision and open the opportunities.”
Guyana, with US oil giant ExxonMobil as the operator, began producing oil on December 20, 2019, in the Stabroek Block. Since then, the local oil and gas sector has grown, to the point where Exxon has said most of the services it relies on to operate will be available in Guyana by next year.
Already, ExxonMobil has established an ambitious oil exploration plan for 2021 offshore Guyana. Over the past few months, Exxon has been drilling simultaneous deep-water wells in both the Stabroek and Canje Blocks.
In March 2021, ExxonMobil secured a sixth drillship, the Noble Sam Croft, for exploration and evaluation drilling activities offshore Guyana. Exxon has said it anticipates at least six projects offshore Guyana will be online by 2027, with developmental drilling recently starting on the second one, the Liza Phase 2 project.
Back in May 2019, EEPGL was granted approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to go ahead with its Liza Phase 2 Development offshore Guyana. The oil company had said that the project will have the capacity to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
Exxon had also revealed that the Liza Phase 2 development was funded at the cost of some US$6 billion, including a lease capitalisation cost of approximately $1.6 billion, for the Liza Unity FPSO vessel. For the Phase 2 Development, six drill centres were planned, along with approximately 30 wells – 15 productions, nine water injection and six gas injection wells.
The US$9 billion Payara development, the third development, will meanwhile target an estimated resource base of about 600 million oil-equivalent barrels and was at one point considered to be the largest single planned investment in the history of Guyana.
The Yellowtail development, which will be oil giant ExxonMobil’s fourth development in Guyana’s waters, will turn out to be the single largest development so far in terms of barrels per day (bpd) of oil, with a mammoth 250,000 bpd targeted. (G3)