President David Granger last evening, received a courtesy call at State House from Michel Hourcard and other executives of Total Exploration and Production Americas, a subsidiary of a French multinational company, which has its chief office in Houston, Texas.
A release from the Ministry of the Presidency said that the executives are in Guyana for the Guyana International Petroleum Business Summit and Exhibition at the Marriott Hotel Guyana.
The exploration company on Monday that it has signed agreements to acquire interests into two-exploration licences offshore Guyana. It also announced that it is seeking exploration rights to operate in Guyana.
During the meeting with the Head of State, the company’s interest in Guyana and the country’s ‘Green’ State Development Strategy were discussed, the release said. Granger said that the country welcomes all investors and noted that even as Guyana works to develop the oil and gas sector, it is also focused on ensuring the protection of the environment and the promotion of the ‘green’ state policy.
“We are very concerned about protecting our environment and we want to cherish our ‘green’ reputation but we welcome investments and we want to build capacity within our small country. We want to work with our partners and we are very confident that you will be comfortable with your investment here,” Granger said.
Hourcard, in an invited comment, said that Guyana has immense potential and his company is looking forward to doing business here. “We are looking for opportunities in this beautiful country and we are wishing to become an operator in this country. We are very happy to be here,” he said.
Total has explored offshore for oil here before.
