A high-level delegation of Guyanese will be headed to Houston, Texas in the United States of America (USA) for the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) which has been in existence since 1969.
File photo: The Texas oil and gas conference in 2019
According to a statement from the Guyana Oil & Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC), whose President Manniram Prashad will be leading a 15-member delegation, the conference will provide an opportunity to meet and network with energy professionals
It will also allow for professionals to exchange ideas and opinions to advance scientific and technical knowledge for oil production and exploration, as well as environmental matters. According to the group, the aim will be to sign several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for increased collaboration and capacity building with Guyana.
“The event is an annual event which is held in Houston, Texas, USA. This year, they will be attending the OTC during the period August 16 – 19 with a 15-member.”
At the event, GOGEC intends to sign a few MoUs with key international players for mutual areas of collaboration namely in capacity building through education and training, and to promote strategic partnerships with local players in the energy sector in Guyana with international organisations, the statement said.
This publication meanwhile understands that the Government delegation will include Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. Also attending is Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat, Minister within the Public Works Ministry Deodat Indar and Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Ramsaroop.
Members of the Private Sector who will be attending include Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman Paul Cheong, former Chairman Nicholas Boyer and Prashad, who will be representing GOGEC.
The Offshore Technology Conference was founded in 1969, and forms a series of conferences and exhibitions focused on exchanging technical knowledge relevant to the development of offshore energy resources, primarily oil and natural gas.
At the 2019 OTC conference, the Guyanese delegation were the recipients of interest from a large number of major players in the oil and gas industry worldwide. At that time, Guyana’s participation at OTC was funded by Private Sector sponsorship, along with approximately 20 per cent funding from the Government.
Guyana, with US oil giant ExxonMobil as the operator, began producing oil on December 20, 2019, in the Stabroek Block. Guyana’s oil revenues are being banked in the New York Federal Reserve Bank, where it is earning interest.
ExxonMobil has also established an ambitious oil exploration plan for 2021 offshore Guyana. Over the past few weeks, Exxon, the only company to have found and started producing oil in local waters, has been making preparations to drill simultaneous deep-water wells in both the Stabroek and Canje Blocks.
Canadian-owned CGX Energy also has plans to drill wells this year. Drilling has already started at its Kawa-1 well, which will be drilled to a depth of approximately 6500 metres in 370-metre-deep water. On the other hand, its Makarapan-1 exploration well will be drilled in the Demerara Block to a total depth of approximately 3500 metres in water depth of approximately 1000 metres.
Norwegian oil and gas consultant Rystad Energy in an analysis earlier this year had said that Guyana, with oil giant ExxonMobil as the operator, accounted for 70 per cent of proven new oil reserves belonging to major oil companies over the last five years.
This is even as the world’s largest oil exploration companies run out of proven oil reserves.
According to the consultant, new oil reserves among Big Oil which comprises companies such as ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, Total and Eni, have fallen. However, Exxon has come out ahead of its peers, thanks to Guyana. (G3)
