President Ali invites China to bid for oil blocks
Dr. Irfaan Ali, the president of Guyana, has invited Chinese investors to participate in the country’s oil industry’s 14 oil block auctions this year.
The President emphasized the close links between the two nations and noted that China has long been an important partner in international development during an interview with China’s state-run CGTN.
Ali added that Guyana wants to help other areas of the economy while stepping up activities in its fledgling oil and gas sector.
This year’s offshore oil block auction is one of those initiatives.
President Ali stated, “We invite China to engage in the public process… the bidding process.”
“We hope that many companies from all around the world will join in that process,” the statement reads. “We will be auctioning off a number of fresh blocks.”
Since it began in December of last year, the bid round for 14 additional oil blocks is anticipated to end in April 2023.
By the end of May 2023, Guyana’s government plans to award contracts.
Oil blocks for shallow and deep waters are up for auction.
President Ali stated that Guyana is developing its natural gas resources and that it expects Chinese investors will be involved in that process outside of the auction.
The President also stated that the administration does not see any conflict between developing Guyana’s oil and gas resources and the nation’s plans to reduce its carbon footprint.
He added that Guyana is committed to avoiding the resource curse even if it doesn’t truly think that having an abundance of resources is an issue. Instead, he claimed that the issue lies in the poor administration of those resources. He claimed that Guyana is serious about good resource management.
“You must resist going on an extravagant spending binge. You must use sound judgment and be financially responsible.
It’s not a resource curse, he insisted; rather, it’s a blessing.
