Second Int’l Energy Conference billed for February 2023

Building on the success of Guyana’s flagship International Energy Conference and Expo, held last week at the Guyana Marriott, Georgetown, organisers announced Thursday that the now annual event will be held again on February 14 through 17, 2023.

The announcement was made during a post conference press briefing hosted by the event’s Director of Communications, Alex Graham.

Graham and his team dubbed the four-day confab a massive success. This, he said was measured in several key areas. These included:

1.       Creating an environment for B2B (Business to Business) engagements; 

2.      Facilitating the four Ps – policymakers, professionals, practitioners, professors;

3.      Bringing the biggest names in the oil and gas and energy sector to an audience in Guyana, with presentations from Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil Darren Woods; CEO of Hess Corporation John Hess; CEO of Eco Atlantic Gil Holzman; Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin;

4.      Broadening the discussion from oil and gas to energy and suitability, hence the theme of the conference, ‘Charting a sustainable energy future’;

5.      Organisers facilitated B2b in which big opportunities were created for small businesses;

6.      An environment for further facilitating government-to-government conversations about the specific issues was also facilitated;

7.      Several business agreements were inked;

8.     Opportunities for small businesses and artisans to showcase their products were also created;  

9.      Booths were set up for the Ministry of Labour and the National Insurance School to educate the public about those agencies’ mandate;

10.  A webinar was created for academics and students of the University of Guyana with the aim of them benefitting from the presentations and panel discussions;

11.   Businesses gained the opportunity to meet with several governments to discuss opportunities for investment and expansion;

12.  The event was pulled off and managed by young Guyanese.  

The oil and gas industry has been dominating conversations, Graham noted Thursday. It is in recognition that oil and gas is just one component of the energy future that the theme ‘Charting a sustainable energy future’ was chosen.

“We live in a critical age and time where climate change and sustainability are issues that must be addressed. And so, the energy conversation is an important one because it puts us well beyond oil and gas. Oil and gas is significant, but it is only seen as a part of the broader energy mix,” Graham commented during the press engagement.

He continued, “We are not going to work at minimum standards. That is going to the direction opposite to where we want to go. Our efforts are going to be to increase the opportunities for access that local businesses have. That is what our goal is and that is why I talk about B2b. The participation and opportunities for Guyanese businesses do not equate to a booth count.

Conference CEO Angenie Abel spoke of her expectations of next year’s conference.

“[My expectations] would be the inclusion of more industries and now they would adopt sustainable measures. We want to see more sectors involved – the mining and logging sector and just to build on the conversations that were already fostered,” she said.

This year’s conference saw attendance and presentations from President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali; President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo; President of Suriname Chandrikapersad Santohki; and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley. There were over 170 exhibitors and over 500 delegates.