Pres Ali urges Suriname to Join Berbice Gas Project

…envisions regional energy hub by 2030

President Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday called on neighbouring Suriname to partner with Guyana in combining gas resources in the proposed Berbice Gas Project in order to create a larger, integrated development, reminding them that Berbice is poised to become a regional gas hub. The Head of State, Ali, made this call as he delivered the feature address at the opening ceremony of the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo (GECSCE) 2026, which is being held at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown. As the Head of State emphasised that Guyana is looking to partner with “like-minded partners”, the President directly appealed to Suriname to join Guyana in scaling up the second Gas-to-Energy (GtE) initiative planned for Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

“If you look at what we are doing, you will see that we are on that path of integration. And on the path of integration for Berbice gas project, we want to do this with our friends in Suriname, and we are hoping that our friends in Suriname can take the decision to join us by bringing their gas with our gas so we can move from a medium-sized project to a larger-scale project for both of our countries and for the region,” the President noted. The President noted that the discussions with Suriname are already underway and likened the possible partnership with Suriname to the partnership that the country is currently building out with its other continental neighbour, Brazil. Guyana has ongoing collaborations with Brazil in transport, logistics and food security as part of a regional integration Guyana is pursuing. “We are hoping that very quickly we can have some decisions because our investors are waiting for those decisions, and those decisions are critical for your future and our future.

We want this partnership. We want that, just like we are partnering with our friends in Roraima and Brazil on transport and logistics and the food partnership, we want that partnership,” the President noted. It was in November last year that President Ali first announced that Guyana would be looking to build a second GtE pipeline, to be routed through Berbice, by 2030. The President had described the undertaking as a national project that would “break every single record in the world” in its speed of delivery. The Berbice Gas Project would be Guyana’s second major natural gas infrastructure development that would bring offshore natural gas onshore for industrial and energy uses. The Wales GTE project is currently underway and expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
The GTE Projects are part of Guyana’s strategy to monetise natural gas from offshore oil and gas fields, diversify the economy beyond crude oil, reduce electricity costs and promote industrialisation. Unlike the existing Wales GTE, the Berbice initiative is being envisioned as a much broader industrial platform. It is intended to support power generation, petrochemicals, heavy manufacturing, data centres and other large-scale economic activity.