‘Guyana will not destroy biodiversity in becoming an oil state’ – Granger

President David Granger has said that Guyana will maintain its commitment to biodiversity protection while becoming an oil state.

“…when we speak of petroleum exploration, when we speak of the prospect of become an oil state, we are not abandoning our commitment to our biodiversity – we will walk in two legs,” Granger told a Guyanese audience at a reception in New York Friday evening.

He stated: “We will become a green state and we will use the petroleum profits to develop the infrastructure, and develop the other requirements of our country.”

The President said that “petroleum is going to be transformative form an economic point of view.”

But he said that this will not mean having to “blister our landscape.”

“…we are not going to destroy our biodiversity, our beautiful rivers and waterfalls, our lakes; we’re going to ensure that new industries fit into our landscape, fit into the plan for the economic development of our country…,” the President stated.

In July this year, ExxonMobil announced that its Payara well hit oil, putting recoverable resources at an estimated 2.75 billion barrels of oil when the discovery from the first well is added up.

“Payara-2 confirms the second giant field discovered in Guyana,” Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration had said in a statement.

“Payara, Liza and the adjacent satellite discoveries at Snoek and Liza Deep will provide the foundation for world class oil developments and deliver substantial benefits to Guyana. We are committed to continue to evaluate the full potential of the Stabroek Block.”

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres and is located some 190 kilometres off the Guyana coast.  Exxon Mobil in June this year said it would invest US$4.4 billion to develop part of the Liza oilfield.

“We’re excited about the tremendous potential of the Liza field and accelerating first production through a phased development in this lower cost environment,” Liam Mallon, Exxon’s head of development stated.

The Liza development project is estimated to tap about 450 million barrels of oil, pumping about 120, 000 barrels of oil per day when it begins operation in 2020.