The constantly enhancing petro profiles of Guyana and Suriname continues to impact positively on the international attention which the two countries, regarded up until recently as being among the forgotten territories in South America, are now attracting in global oil and gas circles. Last week, news broke of planned visits to both countries by the President of the Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, beginning with a September 23-29 visit to Georgetown. From Georgetown, Dr. Al Jasser was expected to travel to Suriname to meet with officials there.
discover how tough and tiring it was. That which was not accomplished in one day had to be returned to the next day in the wee hours of the morning. There were days in which she had to traverse miles of swamp to gather spire from Tibisiri to create straw. After the spire is separated from the Eta Palm it is stripped, boiled and cooled. It is then removed from the cold water, squeezed then dried for four days. It is demanding work, Pauline says. These days she buys Tibisiri from ‘manufacturers’ in the village. Pauline is a mother of seven children – all of whom attend school.What were, up until recently, threadbare ties between the two countries and Saudi Arabia have become transformed by their recently acquired enhanced international recognition on account of their respective significant oil discoveries and, in the instance of Guyana, its ‘graduation’ to the status as a significant oil exporter.
While Guyana and Saudi Arabia had established formal diplomatic ties back in 2012, the move was seen back then as an initiative designed to broaden the formal ‘diplomatic reach’ of both countries, which, at the time enjoyed only limited mutual interests on the economic front. Guyana’s admission into the realm of oil-producing countries has changed all that and back in February last year, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jasser, visited Guyana and engaged with President Dr. Irfaan Ali and other government officials. This year’s visit to Guyana by the Head of the Islamic Development Bank will be seen as likely signaling Guyana’s acceptance as a ‘member’ of the international petro community which the Middle East and more specifically, Saudi Arabia leads.
The Islamic Development Bank reportedly released a statement on Dr. Al Jasser’s visit to the region asserting that the decision for the official to this part of the world was linked to the importance of discussing “crucial development issues related to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. Dr. Al Jasser’s visit to Paramaribo comes close on the heels of Suriname’s most significant oil recovery breakthrough yet, an announcement by the French company, Total, that is on the verge of sinking US$9 billion into an oil recovery initiative that will yield a final investment decision by the end of 2024 and target ‘first production’ for 2028. The news has reportedly lifted spirits in the oil and gas community in Suriname and almost certainly in the country as a whole. Both the Surinamese President Chan Santoki and the Total Energies Chairman Patrick Pouyanne have made public pronouncements acknowledging the implications of the French company’s initiative to seriously kick start Suriname’s offshore oil recovery programme.
