With commercial oil and gas exploration commencing in the first quarter of 2020 in Guyana, India has interest in entering into a commercial agreement with the South American country.
This is according to the newly accredited Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. K.J. Srinivasa.
India is presently the 3rd largest energy consumer in the world with consumption over the past decade increasing at a compound annual growth rate of more than 5%.
Speaking to OilNOW at his Church Street, Georgetown office, Dr. Srinivasa said India sees Guyana as a viable partner in this sector.
“This oil will help Guyana to reposition itself in the world economy and that I understand will make Guyana one of the top [oil producing] countries per capita. What that means is that the economy will improve and also the standard of living will improve. This will, of course, have a spill-over effect in a number of sectors, including education and infrastructure,” he said.
India’s oil & gas demand is expected to increase nearly 3-fold from 229 million metric tons in 2018 to 607 million metric tons in 2040.
“India is positioning itself to become the fifth largest economy and a five trillion dollar economy in the next five years and what that means is that it is also a net consumer of large quantities of oil, and as of now, we import more than 80 percent of our daily needs from diversified sources,” Dr. Srinivasa said.
Towards this end, the High Commissioner underscored that, “For India we pursue a policy of energy security. So, I think once the oil production starts in Guyana, we can really work hard to work with Guyana as a State and also the commercial entities to get into whether it is a commercial agreement or a Government to Government agreement.”
Apart from that, he said the Government of India is open to offering Guyana whatever assistance it will need in the petroleum sector.
The oil and gas industry in India is growing at a robust rate and players are undertaking investments to cater to the burgeoning demands.
The industry is expected to attract 25 billion US dollars in investments by 2022.
