An expert says Guyana is moving too fast with the development of its oil
– But Jagdeo tells oil companies: “Drill, Baby, Drill!”
By Kiana Wilburg
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo
Associate Fellow Chatham House, Dr. Valerie Marcel
Kaieteur News – As the consequences of global warming continue to worsen, countries around the world have stepped up efforts to transition away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources, so that carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced and so lead to global decline -even broadening. temperatures. As a result of this transformation, industry experts have made clear that the demand for oil will never be the same again. They have concluded that the demand for oil is at its peak, which is why some new producers like Guyana are keen to get the oil out of the ground as soon as possible and get it sold.
Chatham House Specialist, Dr. Valerie Marcel, said he could understand why Guyana might want to rush its oil development as one does not know how long each country will have to sell its resources. It all depends on the cost of developing it and how long the market is thirsty for it. Be that as it may, Dr. Marcel warns that the speed at which Guyana is moving may be “too fast” as it risks losing significant value in the process.
During a recent interview on Kaieteur’s radio program, Guyana’s Oil and You, Dr. Marcel, “… When you rush the process to develop the oil you are no longer looking at capturing the most value from the underground resources. By rushing, you’re not thinking about the ultimate recovery of getting so much oil and gas out, you’re not so focused on the importance of an integrated energy and oil development plan, I think. “
By rushing, Dr. asked. Marcel, Guyana does not give itself enough time to draw up a map looking at the development of the discoveries and how some of those projects, such as Payara and Liza, might be linked together to achieve savings cost on infrastructure. . In failing to have such a map in place, the industry expert pointed out that Guyana was missing out on the opportunity to achieve cost reductions by getting companies to work across fields or share drilling results.
Associate Fellow of Chatham House said, “There are so many architectural issues that you don’t have time to think about if you rush through and I think the fast pace might be too fast for Guyana… I think it’s better to do that get it right and slow it down … ”
He added, “… It is extremely important to have that architectural view or policy planning of it all to ensure Guyana has long-term value.”
DRILL BABY DRILL!
When the People / Civic Progressive Party (PPP / C) came to power last year, Kaieteur News had published a list of 20 things the new government must do to set the oil industry on the right track; a path that would allow the nation to build its capabilities to govern and monetize the resources properly. High on that list was the creation of a depletion policy.
Simply put, this strategy would say how fast or slow Guyana must extract its oil resources.
Several local, regional and international stakeholders have appealed to the nation for a policy that slows down ExxonMobil’s aggressive extraction rate; otherwise, the country would be left extremely crowded and at a dangerous juncture.
Despite this, the Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, has made it clear that Guyana’s Reduce policy will essentially be “Drill, baby, drill!”
His reasoning behind the “anecdotal” policy was explained during an interview on Kaieteur Radio on December 23, 2020. There, the Vice President said, “My view is that we have a period where oil would still be relevant right in the world. energy mix and we have a period but it is a window that is closing due to climate change. The window for Guyana will be open a little longer for us than other countries because we have low cost recovery costs and because our crude is sweet, light unlike others with heavy or sour crude. ”
The Vice President also noted that the recently announced regulations of the International Maritime Organization require the removal of 80 percent of the sulfur content from global shipping. As heavy or heavy sour oil has a lot of sulfur, “everyone is looking for a sweet raw now.”
In addition, Jagdeo had pointed out that the world’s leading economies, China and the US, have made it bellucid that they will go to renewables. In fact, China, the world’s largest energy consumer, aims to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. With regard to the USA, President-elect Joe Biden has declared intentions to increase the nation’s transition to renewable energy.
Given the implications of climate change and the global transition to cleaner energy sources, Jagdeo noted that demand for fossil fuels is either going to be stable or declining in 15 to 20 years. He said that this is what has influenced the PPP / C’s position to extract the oil as quickly as possible, using portions of it to build world-class infrastructure and education while giving some leverage for interstate equity generation.
“That’s the depletion policy for you,” concluded the Vice President. (See link: time stamp of depletion policy: (1: 05: 26) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA03jUwgIDY)
The origin of the phrase – “Drill, baby, drill!”
“Drill, baby, drill!” is a Republican campaign slogan first used at the 2008 U.S. Republican National Convention by former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, Michael Steele, who was later elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The slogan expressed support for increased drilling for petroleum and gas as additional sources of energy and gained further prominence after it was used by Republican Vice President nominee Sarah Palin during the vice presidential debate.