Guyana enters global spotlight on Sustainable Natural Resource Development

The International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana is about more than just drawing attention to Guyana’s resource potential, said Communications Director, Alex Graham.

During a press briefing on the eve of the conference, Graham told reporters that it is also about centering Guyana on the global discourse on sustainability and natural resource development.

“When the news is reported about Guyana today, it’s about how many barrels of oil the operators are able to extract per day now… The size and quality of the natural resource finds here, some of which we had long hoped for, have now been realised, and for us, that’s a significant thing.”

Surely, Guyana’s significant commercial petroleum resources are largely responsible for the excitement surrounding this event, which may be the most high-profile conference of its nature to be held here. It comes just as ExxonMobil announced the start-up of the Liza Phase 2 project, tripling Guyana’s oil production.

Graham said, “that’s a great thing for us. It provides resources that we didn’t have to develop this country for a long time. But we want to demonstrate that we are more than that.”

The conference, he said, is about showing that Guyana and its sister Caribbean States can contribute to the larger global discourse on sustainability efforts.

“It is a significant thing that in small states like Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean that we count as neighbours and brothers, that we have in the past produced significant minds. Nobel laureates and stuff like that. But in the specific area of sustainability and natural resource development, we’ve also produced two champions of the earth. One, a former President of Guyana, and now one, a Prime Minister of Barbados.”

These and other high-profile leaders are slated to address the conference over the course of the next few days.

They include CEO of ExxonMobil Corp. Darren Woods, COP26 envoy Dr. John Murton, President of Suriname Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, and Guyana’s President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali.

The conference takes place from February 15-18 and will provide significant networking opportunities for the 40+ Guyanese businesses exhibiting their products and services.

The conference will be held under the theme ‘Charting a Sustainable Energy Future’.