Guyana’s path to Resilient Economy: Advances in natural resources and Low Carbon Development

Guyana now has three producing Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block, a complete Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, and enhanced mining’s surveillance system. A lot of progress has been made since August 2023 in low carbon development, oil and gas, and mining.

Orchestrated in February, the 2024 Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo was aimed at the theme of energy and partnership. This event, with the theme “Fueling Transformation and Modernisation”, recorded participation from over 21 countries, almost 200 exhibitors and 30 Sponsors. Another symposium held in April focused on Local Content Legislation regarding the supply chain, procurement, employment of Guyanese, and skill development.

The sectors that the development will focus on are:

Oil and Gas Sector

Guyana achieved a big milestone in August 2023 as the Petroleum Activities Bill was passed in the National Assembly to replace the one passed in 1986. This new act improves the legislation of the exploration, production, storage, and transportation of petroleum and also lays down the process of establishing an oil refinery in the country.

In this regard, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat recently underlined the necessity of these measures in protecting the sector’s future. At the same time, the government is considering the option of monetization of natural gas for supporting a sustainable economic development as a detailed discussion on the framework for the monetization of gas has been launched in October 2023.

Low Carbon Development Strategy

Guyana is still a world’s most progressive country in forest preservation with its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, which is an ambitious plan to harmonize conservation with development.

With the signing of aide-memoire agreement with the European Union in November 2023 under Voluntary Partnership Agreement, the funding for the forest conservation has boosted up from € 2.5 million to € 3.8 million.

Also, the availability of a new station in Moruca contributes to the constant supervision of the marine environments and therefore enhances the conservation process.

Mining Sector

In the mining sector the government has started the process of revitalizing the sector through the initiation of the provision of 350 mining blocks to miners in regions seven and eight from August this year. Besides, raw materials production and mineral production rise, the government is working actively against the smuggling of gold and Illegal mining.

A special working group deals with the analysis of gold market operations, identifying new methods of smugglers’ work and plugging the gaps in the legislation. To emphasize the improvements in this area, the Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo pointed out the fact that there is permanent work on increasing the mining security and non–transparency.