Stability, that’s the word investors want to hear, and in Guyana, they’re likely to get it.
Schreiner Parker, Partner and Head of Emerging Markets & NOCs at Norway-based Rystad Energy, believes the country’s political future looks steady enough to keep investors calm. “It seems like there’s going to be continuity… from a government perspective, but then also continuity in terms of the oil and gas industry and regulations and contracts that have been executed in the past,” he told OilNOW recently in an exclusive interview. “That is what investors seek more than anything: stability, right? And sanctity of contracts, strong rule of law.”
Parker said too that no major shift in oil and gas policy is anticipated following the country’s September 1 presidential elections. “It doesn’t seem like anything has entered the political rhetoric, as of yet, about… going strongly after changing the Stabroek contract or revising the fiscal terms,” he explained. “It doesn’t feel like…the political rhetoric on either side has kind of presented a path that would be radically divergent from the other.”
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But what about the wildcard candidate, sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed? Parker was blunt. “He seems to be more of a flash in the pan,” he said. “You do make waves and you make headlines. But I’m not sure that there’s anything substantial or substantive behind that candidacy.”
Mohamed and his father, their companies, along with a government official, Mae Thomas, were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last year for their alleged roles in public corruption in Guyana.
As the South American country faces this pivotal vote, Parker believes that investors can expect what they value most: continuity, stability, and no major surprises on the horizon.
