VP to lead joint Guyana-Suriname oil spills common strategy

A joint Guyana-Suriname approach to any potential oil spill from oil exploration and production in the Corentyne could be a possibility coming out of the working group that will be led by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo in Suriname.
This is according to President Dr Irfaan Ali, who was asked whether there would be an agreement for Guyana and Suriname to collaborate on any potential oil spill.
“That is why we’re setting up that working group the Vice President would lead. So that we can have a joint analysis of threats, challenges and opportunities. And we can come up with a common strategy. Because we’re also a part of the same forest basin,” President Ali said during a recent joint press conference with his Surinamese counterpart Chandrikapersad Santokhi.
In light of this, the President pointed out the work the two countries can do. According to the President, “can you imagine if we merge our potential? The type of impact and benefit we can bring to the basin”.
According to a joint communique issued by the two Presidents, a working group will be established within two weeks which will seek to come up with concrete proposals for a joint gas strategy. This will include the gas-to-shore infrastructure and a gas plant.
A few days ago, it was announced that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo will soon be leading a Guyanese delegation to neighbouring Suriname where it is expected that the two countries will work together to develop a common strategy to deal with issues of climate change and the environment.

This visit is expected to be conducted before the COP26 Summit which is billed for October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. The COP26 Summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
President Ali told reporters during the joint press conference with his Surinamese counterpart that “both Guyana and Suriname recognise that we have a valuable asset in Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo in this field of environment.”
As such, the Head of State announced that Jagdeo will soon “lead a delegation to Suriname before COP26 to look at the coordination of our strategies, and also to work with our counterparts in Suriname in coming up with a common strategy in dealing with climate change and the environment”.
At the time President Santokhi and a Surinamese delegation arrived in Guyana on Tuesday for their four-day State visit to discuss issues including health, agriculture, and oil and gas, the Vice President was in Houston, Texas, for the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC).

During the joint press conference, a Surinamese reporter asked President Ali about Jagdeo’s absence. In responding, the Guyanese Head of State pointed out that “when you’re in Government, you have many competing demands. When you’re in Government, you don’t deal with a single task in a single day. And don’t for a moment believe that for us, this is the only task we’re dealing with.”
While oil has not been found yet in the Corentyne block, Canada-based oil company CGX Energy Incorporated spudded its first exploration well in the block last month. CGX had previously been given a November 2021 deadline to drill its first well in the Corentyne Block by the Government of Guyana.
Drilling started on the well in question, the Kawa-1 well, on July 2 in the Corentyne Block. And according to the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), the drilling will conclude on December 15, 2021.
CGX and Frontera Energy – joint venturers in the block – had commissioned an independent report which had revealed that they are potentially sitting on 4.9 million Barrels of Oil Equivalent (BOE) in the Demerara and Corentyne, Guyana oil blocks under their control. (G3)