While the government is looking to swiftly develop Guyana’s oil and gas sector, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd yesterday assured that environmental protection will be a key part of its policy framework.
Speaking at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, Todd noted that Guyana is a small developing state with a burgeoning oil and gas sector, and since the discovery of oil in 2015, the country has already faced a number of challenges in the industry.
He noted that while the Government intends to fast track the development and growth of the oil and gas industry, this will not be done without taking into consideration environmental protection and sustainability. In fact, he says, they will ensure that sustainability is incorporated into the oil and gas policy framework.
This should not be a surprise, however, Todd posited, as the government has always built on sustainability and Guyana has been recognised numerous times for their efforts in that regard.
“We will not only look at the economic side… When it comes to sustainability we have always been on the right track. We will take care of the environment side and will also focus on human development. We can have a balanced policy framework,” he added.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday reiterated at the OTC that the government supports the swift development of the local oil and gas sector as a means of earning as much as possible while global realities still allow for the use of fossil fuels.
It was one of the starkest admissions yet by the PPP/C administration that in tandem with Exxon-Mobil and its partners, its intention was to extract as much of the nine billion barrels of oil equivalent and counting before the tide turns against fossil fuels.
“Because there is this climate change imperative to decarbonise, our policy is to get as much oil out of the ground as quickly as possible. It sounds a bit harsh for those who think you should be environmentally sound but that is the reality of it. We have to maximise the benefit from the industry and use those benefits to change our people’s lives…We don’t know how swiftly we’ll get to a decarbonised world but we have to make use of this period when there is still demand to get as much as possible out of the ground and that is why we support the rapid pace of the industry but it must be done safely,” Jagdeo declared.
