Joint Guyana-Suriname Commission to engage African oil producers

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman has returned from neighbouring Suriname following the New Petroleum Producers Group Annual Meeting held in Suriname from October 15 to 20, 2017 where the South American neighbours have agreed to a joint study tour of identified African oil-producing countries.
During the meeting, Minister Trotman met with representatives from the oil and gas institutions and agencies of Suriname, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone to share experiences for the benefit and enhanced development of the countries gathered.

During the meeting, country representatives shared innovative ideas on petroleum management governance structures and geological experiences.
To advance efforts, Minister Trotman proposed a joint Guyana-Suriname study tour of Liberia, Ghana and Sierra Leone during 2018 when technical officers from Suriname would join their Guyanese counterparts and expand on initial discussions to further develop country-to-country exchanges.
It was agreed that the countries could benefit from sharing information and experiences on exploration programmes and development plans, which in turn would better enable Governments to optimise and manage petroleum reservoir development.
The representatives agreed that it was very important to gain increased understanding of the technologies that were most efficient in specific geological contexts.
The joint Guyana-Suriname study tour proposal was accepted by those in attendance and several follow-up actions have been agreed on to make the study tour a reality, with Chatham House being asked to take the lead on organising the upcoming activities.
Meanwhile, on Thursday last during his visit to the neighbouring country, Trotman met with his Surinamese counterpart, Regilio J Dodson and Suriname’s Minister of Finance, Gilmore Hoefdraad, to discuss areas of cooperation between the two countries.
Accompanying the Guyanese Minister was Joanna Homer, Legal and Technical Officer of the Natural Resources Ministry. The meeting aimed at identifying specific areas of cooperation and determining the next steps to optimising the cooperation process.
The Natural Resources Ministers of the two neighbouring countries will be the primary facilitators of the engagements.
Gold and diamond mining, bauxite production, water as a natural resource commodity, hydropower, agriculture, infrastructure, and oil and gas exploration, development, production and oil-spill response were among the key areas identified.
The meeting acknowledged the existing general cooperation agreement and working committee of Suriname and Guyana, but acknowledged that further attention is required on the specific areas as noted. A follow-up meeting is scheduled to be held in Guyana in November 2017.