The Government of Guyana is not worried about President Donald Trump’s bid for lower oil prices, according to Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo who on Tuesday noted that commitments from US oil major ExxonMobil and ongoing diversification efforts will cushion any impact of cheap crude or oversupply.
Trump has pledged to boost U.S. oil production, already the highest in the world, in a bid to lower oil prices and ease consumer inflation.
Jagdeo during a discussion at the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo held at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown, noted that “in spite of what President Trump has said, and I’m sure that they intend to make the regulatory environment more favourable to the growth of the oil and gas industry in the US, we believe that you are not going to have a major supply response to that.”
He disclosed that ExxonMobil Guyana Limited has submitted proposals for its seventh and eight projects, displaying its commitment to the local market.
“Exxon is a very big and complex corporation. They study the oil markets and probably know the oil market more than any government official and they are willing to expand their production here, clearly they see a demand for fossil fuel and believe that in Guyana, we have a unique opportunity to supply that market,” the VP explained.
In addition, it was announced on Tuesday that a US-based company is planning a significant investment in Guyana’s oil and gas sector, aiming to process 30,000 barrels of oil daily by year’s end.
Jagdeo predicts that the push for lower oil prices will also make some of the existing operations in the US not feasible.
Given Guyana’s quality of crude and the demand for fossil fuel remaining relatively high in the foreseeable future, Jagdeo noted that Guyana will not be severely affected soon.
Nevertheless, he said efforts are ongoing to diversify the local economy.
The Vice President said “…we not putting all of our eggs in one basket.”
The Government has increased investments in healthcare, agriculture, tourism, local content and energy as it pushes to diversify the local economy.
Discover more from INews Guyana
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
