Dear Editor,
Part of your report in SN January 4, 2011, said “Drilling for oil in Guyana for the first time in a decade commenced last Friday at the Takutu Basin in Region Nine.” has caused me to wonder what you mean by “for the first time in a decade.”
Is it not a fact that drilling for oil in British Guiana and later Guyana, has been going on for many, many years? Can you point me to any comprehensive report on the various oil drilling projects and the results achieved?
I have faint recollections that over the many years of my existence, there have been several oil drilling explorations over several parts of Guyana in colonial and post-colonial times, and the results have always been the same, that there is oil but not in productive quantities. Is this new set of drilling not likely to fall aside with the same past reporting results?
At times over a sip or two I have argued that until such time that Guyana has Guyanese experts in oil-drilling explorations, no oil in productive quantities would ever be found. The people who currently and in the past did conduct those explorations had bosses and groups to answer to, and in all probability, those powers decided what was most advantageous to them. It does seem most odd that countries all around Guyana have oil, but that the piece of land named Guyana has none. Guyana is not that important on the world stage.
It is as simple as that.
Yours faithfully,
Carl Veecock
Editor’s note:
It is true that exploratory drilling has taken place in Guyana in the past, but it has not been continuous; Mr Veecock himself points out that all previous attempts have been abandoned. No drilling has taken place in the last ten years, hence the headline.
