GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, February 28, 2022

12 GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, February 28, 2022

Second International Energy Conference billed for February 2023

BUILDING on the success of Guyana’s flagship International Energy Conference and Expo, organisers have announced that the now annual event will be held again on February 14 through February 17, 2023.

This announcement was made during a post conference press briefing hosted by the event’s Director of Communications, Alex Graham.

Graham and his team dubbed the four-day confab a massive success. This, he said was measured in several key areas.

Those areas are: * Creating an environment for B2B (Business to Business) engagements * Facilitating the four Ps – policymakers, professionals, practitioners, professors * Bringing the biggest names in the oil and gas and energy sector to an audience in Guyana, with presentations from Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods; CEO of Hess Corporation, John Hess; CEO of Eco Atlantic, Gil Holzman; Vice Chairman, Daniel Yergin * Broadening the discussion from oil and gas to energy and suitability, hence the theme of the conference, “Charting a sustainable energy future” * Organisers facilitated B2b in which big opportunities were cre-

Guyana’s flagship International Energy Conference and Expo was packed with powerful presentations and insightful engagements (Adrian Narine photo)

ated for small businesses * An environment for further facilitating government-to-government conversations about the specific issues was also facilitated * Several business agreements were inked * Opportunities for small businesses and artisans to showcase their products were also created * Booths were set up for the Ministry of Labour and the National Insurance Scheme to educate the public about those agencies’ mandate

* A webinar was created for academics and students of the University of Guyana with the aim of them benefitting from the presentations and panel discussions * Businesses gained the opportunity to meet with several governments to discuss opportunities for investment and expansion * The event was pulled off and managed by young Guyanese.

The oil and gas industry has been dominating conversations, Graham noted, adding, however, that oil and gas is just one component of the energy future.

“We live in a critical age and time where climate change and sustainability are issues that must be addressed. And so, the energy conversation is an important one because it puts us well beyond oil and gas. Oil and gas is significant, but it is only seen as a part of the broader energy mix,” Graham said.

He added: “We are not going to work at minimum standards. That is going to the direction opposite to where we want to go. Our efforts are going to be to increase the opportunities for access that local businesses have. That is what our goal is and that is why I talk about B2b. The participation and opportunities for Guyanese businesses do not equate to a booth count.”

Conference CEO, Angenie Abel, spoke of her expectations of next year’s conference.

“[My expectations] would be the inclusion of more industries and how they would adopt sustainable measures. We want to see more sectors involved – the mining and logging sector and just to build on the conversations that were already fostered,” she said.

This year’s conference saw attendance and presentations from President Dr. Irfaan Ali; President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo; President of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santohki and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley. There were over 170 exhibitors and over 500 delegates.

Companies accessing Local Content...

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said, adding: “We believe that Guyanese must benefit from this new sector. We might not have the knowledge and requisite skills now, but I am sure that in years to come, and with the programmes that the government is putting in place, both in the human resource capacity as well as the capacity in our local private sector to ensure that they place a meaningful role in the oil and gas sector and bring true benefits to Guyanese and Guyanese businesses.”

To advance further consultations and discussions on better conditions for Guyanese and businesses the PSC has established a Local Content Advisory Group, chaired by Shyam Nokta.

Other members of the group are Chairman of the PSC, Paul Cheong; President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Timothy Tucker; Executive Director of GCCI, Richard Rambarran; Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham)’s Local Content Committee, Joel Bhagwandin and Director at AmCham and Women in Oil and Gas, Dr. Mellissa Varswyk.

The advisory group, according to the PSC, will coordinate and advance the local content efforts of the PSC and its member organisations and businesses.

“The PSC will continue to work in close coordination with the Government of Guyana, the oil and gas operators, the Centre for Local Business Development, businesses, and other stakeholders in order to train and educate the Guyanese labour force to take full advantage of the local content opportunities,” the private sector body said.

Beyond oil and gas: Who’ll lose from Russia-Ukraine trade fallout

(Bloomberg) RUSSIA’S invasion of Ukraine has sparked Europe’s largest land war since 1945, raising the prospect of an exodus of refugees and posing a serious threat to global trade flows.

While the focus is on Russia’s energy exports, there are plenty of other potential chokepoints, ranging from food staples and strategic metals to luxury items.

In all, more than 130 economies have at least one good or commodity import that is predominantly sourced from Russia, Ukraine and neighbouring Belarus, which Moscow is using as a base for some of its forces, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of figures since 2019 from the United Nations’ Comtrade database for global trade.

The U.S., European Union and U.K. have so far focused their sanctions on Russia’s financial sector, billionaires and political elites—giving a pass to the country’s energy industry, which continues to pump natural gas to heavily-reliant European customers.

Yet Western leaders have said that all options remain on the table. And there are signs that even China, a close ally of Russia, may be applying a squeeze, with several staterun banks curbing financing for purchases of Russian commodities.

- wheat and metals are among other key exports to watch

Value of imports from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in categories they dominated in 2019 and 2020 (UN Comtrade)

As well as being an energy giant, Russia is also a major producer of base and precious metals. Ukraine is one of the world’s largest agricultural exporters.

Finland gets more than 90 per cent of its nickel imports from Russia, which also supplies nearly half of Turkey’s aluminum imports. The U.K. is by far the largest buyer of Russian gold, to the tune of $17 billion in 2020.

Even the U.S. may have some exposure. In 2020, the U.S. bought 3.5 million metric tonnes of pig iron—a key ingredient in the production of steel—from Russia and the Ukraine. That amounted to three-quarters of its overall imports of the metal that year, and was equivalent to 19 per cent of domestic output.

Egypt and Turkey both get more than 50 per cent of their wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine. India and China import hundreds of millions of dollars of sunflower and cotton-seed oils from the Ukraine. In 2019, both Brazil and China sourced at least 30 per cent of their fertiliser imports from Russia and Belarus, collectively worth $4.3 billion, with the U.S. and India also major buyers.

For a few countries and products, Russia is a major customer, and there’s a risk that demand could be hurt by future sanctions and other economic fallout.

One example: The more than $5 billion in fur coats, clothing and accessories that Russians bought from Chinese manufacturers in 2019 and 2020—nearly twothirds of their overseas sales. Ecuador sells almost 20 per cent of its bananas, worth more than $600 million annually, to Russia. The country is also a key market for Finnish nuclear-reactor parts.