Grenada hopes to find oil, eyes rapid development like Guyana

Grenada is hoping to find commercial oil and gas resources that can be used to develop the island. If successful, the country’s recently- elected Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell believes that Grenada can learn from the rapid development of Guyana’s oil and gas industry.

Prime Minister Mitchell, the 44-year-old lawyer turned politician, was elected to office on June 23. Just weeks into his role, he said there are several key priorities his government is pursuing.

Among those is the development of the country’s oil and gas industry, since there were some promising finds in the past. And he believes Guyana’s experience is valuable.

“You’ve developed your oil and gas in a rapid time.

“We certainly feel like Grenada has the potential also for oil and gas, so that is something our administration will be pursuing,” Prime Minister Mitchell said during a recent interview with the News Room.

In 2015, Guyana struck oil in its prolific Stabroek Block offshore and since then, there have been more than 30 discoveries. By December 2019, the country started producing oil in its Liza Phase One development.

More recently, Guyana, Suriname, T&T and Barbados started talks on pooling their oil and gas resources to meet the region’s energy demand.

Grenada is already partnering with Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) to allow the Twin-Island Republic to search for hydrocarbon resources in their shared maritime space. With Grenada eyeing oil and gas development, the country could become part of a regional energy strategy.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mitchell said that he believes there are other areas in which Guyana and Grenada can collaborate.

“I spent a lot of time discussing with President (Irfaan) Ali some of the major areas I think we can cooperate on.

“As you know, he is very keen on food security, agriculture and agro-processing – that is one area that we are very keen on in Grenada and that is a natural area for us to cooperate on,” he said.

Guyana is currently leading the region’s food security agenda where countries are increasing their food production and seeking to slash regional imports by 25 per cent by 2025.

The establishment of a regional air carrier, advancing the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and combatting climate change are among other focus areas for the new Prime Minister.