Deeming the company’s journey “remarkable”, Woods stated that signing the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) in 1999, was the beginning of Guyana’s future as an energy powerhouse.

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Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, Darren Woods speaking at the launch of the International Energy Conference and Expo-Guyana on Tuesday, February 15 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel.

As oil and gas operations continue to ramp up in Guyana, the number of Guyanese servicing the sector has been rapidly increasing.  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, Darren Woods said over 3,500 Guyanese have been supporting the company’s operations in the South American country, while 800 local businesses have been supplying services to the industry.

Speaking at the launch of the International Energy Conference and Expo-Guyana on Tuesday, February 15 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Woods said that increasing local participation through capacity building is a key component of the value that petroleum operations bring to the country.  He stated, “We’ve made a lot of progress in advancing local opportunities for the people of Guyana and, through our partnership, we remain committed to making further advancements.”

He also noted that that company aims to continually pursue its local content goals, pointing to efforts to equip Guyanese with the tools to build their capacity for the sector. The Centre for Local Business Development was established by ExxonMobil in 2017 to execute this objective. That Centre has been providing training and guidance to hundreds of local companies on matters of compliance and industry requirements, while also providing a platform for Guyanese companies to keep abreast with opportunities in the sector.

The CEO reflected on the launch of the $100 million Greater Guyana Initiative, which is a 10-year,   commitment by ExxonMobil and its partners on the Stabroek Block to support local capacity-building programmes. “The first phase is funding significant expansion of the Centre for Local Business Development … technical, education and training programmes, and more recently support to the University of Guyana. We’re hopeful that these efforts will continue to expand the growing opportunities for Guyanese workers,” he said.

The official, during his remarks, also highlighted projects, such as the Gas-to-Energy initiative, that have been birthed from the company’s activities in Guyana and which are expected to positively impact Guyanese. “We believe it’s vitally important that benefits are widely shared. This includes increasing the capabilities of the local workforce and building new infrastructure. That’s the focus of the gas-to-energy project, the Greater Guyana Initiative and other efforts to develop capacity and maximise local content,” he said.

Additionally, he noted that that the Gas-to-Energy project, which will see 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day being piped onshore, will provide a lower-emission source of energy for the country, while significantly reducing the cost of electricity in Guyana.

Guyana’s Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo delivered an address at the inaugural International Energy Conference on February 15, in Georgetown, Guyana.

Guyana’s Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo told attendees at the opening of the inaugural International Energy Conference on Tuesday that authorities are considering using the remaining oil blocks to form a National Oil Company (NOC).

“At some point in time, the remaining blocks which we have, many people are asking “when can we access these blocks or some concession offshore?” In the past, it was first come, first served basis,” Mr. Jagdeo said. “Since we have found oil, we have made it clear that we will either go to an auction sometime in the third quarter of this year, with or without seismic done on our part. That decision still has to be made in government or alternately, use those blocks to form a national oil company.”

The Vice President said government has received proposals from large operators looking to work with authorities to form an oil company and utilise the remaining blocks.

“To offer clarity, all of those decisions would be made. So, I hope that answers the question for those who are wondering how they can apply for our new blocks,” he pointed out.

Guyana supports accelerated exploration

Since 2015, Guyana has become a major regional hotspot for oil and gas with well over 20 major discoveries at the ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek Block amounting to more than 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources.

The country’s first barrel of oil was produced in December 2019 at Liza Phase 1 and the second Phase of the Liza Development started up just last week.

The Vice President made it clear that the government wants this success to continue and is working to ensure the South American country is best positioned to help meet the oil and gas demand in the coming years, even as it supports net-zero by 2050.

“And so, in Guyana’s case, we support accelerated exploration. We are making it clear, we support accelerated exploration,” Mr. Jagdeo said.  And our incentive regimes will reflect that support for accelerated exploration.

He said government will continue to put measures in place to encourage the existing holders of concessions to move swiftly to exploration and to expand.

“Now…we have to try to keep the regimes evolving and our regulatory approvals at a pace so that we don’t become a humbug on the development of the industry and slow down the pace,” he said, while pointing out that this has been a challenge which government is working to overcome.

He emphasised the principle of shared prosperity with investors and ensuring that those who plug money in the high-risk oil and gas sector, have an opportunity to get a return that mirrors the risk.

“That’s important for us from an investment perspective. So, the physical regimes, the new PSA, all of these issues evolve in the direction not to remove the incentives for fast-paced exploration nor a decent return on capital… but at the same time