The participation of more than 200 companies and 600 delegates at the just concluded Guyana Petroleum Exhibition and Summit (GIPEX) has been described as “impressive” by former Alberta Premier, Alison Redford.
Speaking to OilNOW on the sidelines of GIPEX 2018, the Canadian lawyer said the presence of a significant number of local companies at the event was also a positive sign and an indication that more Guyanese are becoming aware and involved in the emerging oil and gas sector.
Redford was in the South American country close to a year ago when the Guyana Oil and Gas Association (GOGA) staged what was the first major petroleum conference and exhibition at the time.
“To come back a year later and to see this size of a conference with the variety of people, the number of local companies that are interested and starting to figure out how to connect to this great opportunity is really exciting. So it’s really very, very impressive,” she said.
What is also notable, Redford said, is the degree to which Guyanese are open to listening to what may be helpful and learning from the experiences of others so that the same pitfalls can be avoided, as the country gears up to become an oil producer.
“it’s also really interesting how open…the people in Guyana are to listening to what might be helpful in terms of lesson learned – both good and bad from other places – and I think it’s a real opportunity for your country to skip some of the mistakes that others have made,” she stated.
The former Alberta Premier, currently a consultant at the World Bank Group, was part of a panel discussion at GIPEX which focused on the effective management of Guyana’s oil and gas resources.
Redford was the 14th Premier of Alberta, Canada, having served in this capacity from October 7, 2011, to March 23, 2014. During her tenure she implemented the Alberta Energy Regulator, a single regulator that directly included environmental regulation, resource conservation, economic development and first nations consultation in all energy upstream projects in Alberta.
