Guyana, Canadian province signing oil and gas pact
-during visit by large trade mission
The Guyana government and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador will be signing a technical cooperation agreement on oil and gas in the coming week, when Georgetown will also be hosting a visit by a 50-odd member trade mission from the territory seeking partnerships with local companies to tap the sector.
The High Commission of Canada yesterday said in a statement that Minister of Natural Resources from Newfoundland and Labrador Siobhan Coady will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of her province with the Government of Guyana for technical cooperation on oil and gas.
During her visit, it noted, Minister Coady will also be attending the events organised for the visiting trade mission, which will be visiting from October 15th to October 18th, 2018.
The statement explained that the High Commission and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador are collaborating with the Government of Guyana through GO-Invest to bring the Canadian oil and gas trade mission of approximately 50 persons from the province’s offshore oil and gas industry.
“Canadian companies are hoping to leverage partnerships with appropriate Guyanese businesses, and work with them to access opportunities in the oil and gas sector,” it noted.
“Guyana presents world-class, deepwater petroleum prospects which offer business opportunities that align with Newfoundland and Labrador’s petroleum expertise and experience. The development of potential partnerships between the two jurisdictions could serve to build strong business relationships, transfer technology, and skills development to support the growth of Guyana’s offshore oil and gas industry,” it added.
Newfoundland companies, it further said, have been servicing Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessels for over 15 years. Companies from this province have also been servicing rigs and drill ships for 40 years, it added.
According to the High Commission, the experience of Newfoundland can be a great potential resource to Guyana in developing its offshore industry through working with experienced partners, such as government and private sector, suppliers and service companies. “This trade mission will expose Canadian companies to the market opportunities, investment regime and qualified local companies,” the High Commission said, while highlighting that the local support for the trade mission so far has been overwhelming. “This highlights the willingness of Guyanese to partner with Canadians, which is largely due to the Canadian model of leveraging local partnerships through building partners’ capabilities to access together the opportunities in this nascent sector,” it added.