Minister of Natural Resources Mr. Raphael Trotman, and a team, yesterday toured oil giant ExxonMobil’s storage yard at the Wieting and Richter Wharf in Georgetown to get a closer look at the company’s drilling pipes and other equipment, as it prepares to start drilling its second well here.

Minister of Natural Resources, Mr. Raphael Trotman; Minister of Public Infrastructure, Mr. David Patterson; Minister of Business, Mr. Dominic Gaskin; and other representatives pay keen attention to an ExxonMobil’s representative, during a tour of the oil company’s storage facility at the Wieting & Richter Wharf

Minister Trotman was accompanied by Minister of Business, Mr. Dominic Gaskin and Minister of Public Infrastructure, Mr. David Patterson on the visit.
In 2015, ExxonMobil drilled the Liza-1 well in the Stabroek Block and found a significant amount of hydrocarbons that indicates the presence of oil in commercial quantities. A drilling vessel arrived in Guyana’s waters a few days ago to commence drilling the Liza-2 well in the same block.
Minister Trotman will be visiting the Stabroek Block to tour the vessel in a few weeks.
A report from GINA quoted Trotman as saying yesterday: “We have satisfied ourselves that Guyana has oil and this now will go to ascertain, perhaps, how much of it we really have. This well is going to be near to the first one to see how wide and how deep the reservoir is.”
He added that both Ministers Gaskin and Patterson have a vested interest in the development of the oil and gas sector, since the presence of oil tends to have a ripple effect on the services, construction and transportation sectors.
“We are looking at construction. We are looking at jobs. We are looking at what is known in the industry as local content to ensure that Guyanese are aware of what is happening and have [their] fair share,” Minister Trotman said.

While acknowledging the need to exercise cautious optimism in the oil business, he said that the level of preparation and investment that ExxonMobil is making is evidence of its confidence that a significant amount of oil is there to be extracted.