Guyana’s Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, said he looks forward to the potential “shared infrastructure” Guyana and Suriname can have as contiguous states with significant petroleum resources.
TotalEnergies recently announced its final investment decision (FID) for the Block 58 Gran Morgu oil development. The US$10.5 billion project is targeting the production of 750 million barrels of crude oil. Guyana, which is benefitting from multiple oilfield developments in the Stabroek Block, has now congratulated Suriname on its very first development.
Jagdeo said Guyana is looking forward to working with Suriname on synergy. He said the Block 58 project will focus a lot on oil, “so we still need to look at the development of gas…” He reminded that Suriname has found large volumes of gas, and that the Guyana discoveries close to the Suriname border has more gas in them.
“So, we still need to try to collaborate in the context of our project or our aim to monetize this gas, either within the context of that project or separately, but we still need to have a discussion on this,” Jagdeo said.
Discoveries have been made by ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies offshore the two countries. Jagdeo noted during an October 3 press conference that there is a lot of gas near their shared border.
Jagdeo mentioned that he spoke with Suriname’s Foreign Minister, Albert Ramdin, about having talks. “He wants to come with a team of people, and I said I’ll give him a date when we can have those discussions,” the Vice President said.
Beyond the bilateral cooperation, Jagdeo discussed the broader issue of energy development in developing countries, particularly in Africa and the Caribbean. He stressed that developed nations need to bear greater responsibility. He stated, “They’re the ones who are putting out the greatest amounts of emissions historically.”
The Vice President criticized efforts by developed nations to pressure developing countries to prioritize climate action at the expense of their energy security and development goals. He argued that countries in Africa should not be forced into energy poverty or discouraged from using their gas resources to generate power while developed countries continue to expand their own gas production.
“Thank God they are not listening to some of these people, and that they pursue their development with vigor,” Jagdeo said.
Guyana is pursuing two phases of gas development on a small scale with production expected to max out around 125 million cubic feet per day (mcf/d). Phase 1 of the Gas-to-Energy project, is expected to start production in 2025, with output of 50 mcf/d, while the government has only recently invited bids for Phase 2.
Guyana has also selected Fulcrum LNG to have talks with ExxonMobil on potential for a larger scale natural gas development.
