GCCI launches local oil and gas conference
Kaieteur News – With the goals of supporting and building the local businesses for the energy sector, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), in partnership with ExxonMobil, launched its Guyana Energy Conference and Exhibition (GEC-X ’21).
At the launch on Monday, GCCI President Nicolas Boyer explained that the purpose of the conference is to foster a conversation in Guyana’s energy sector from discussions on the extraction of crude oil to import heavy fuel oil and the country’s current use of that for electricity generation. He added, “in addition to the efficient distribution of electricity so that reliable supply is not something we dream of but more of something we are familiar with.”
During his presentation, Boyer reminded attendees of the unreliable energy supply in Guyana, and highlighted how this inefficiency has hampered Guyana’s development.
He further explained, “For too long Guyanese businesses have been constrained by the cost of energy, arising from developmental and administrative challenges. Now with a catalyst like oil and gas upstream, we can harness this new industry to create a stronger impact across our entire energy sector and potentially force a new wave of industrialization into our economy. “
Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharat, who delivered the feature talk, supported Boyer’s point on energy supply. He said, “We have always had a problem in Guyana with the cost of power generation and I think that has been a major obstacle to the development of our country and our government would have recognized that and we need to tackle it and go to it.” tackle it as early as possible. ”
Minister Bharat also added that the GCCI initiative plays a partner in the government’s proposal to diversify the energy mix. He said it is refreshing to have a conference that will focus on the energy mix as our government has been advocating. “Our President will talk a lot about our energy mix in Guyana and not just a conference restricted to oil and gas as we’ve seen over the years,” he added.
The conference is set for September 28-29, 2021.
Photo caption: Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharat (on the podium), gives his keynote address to the launch of the Guyana Energy Conference and Exhibition