Jagdeo defends producing oil as quickly as possible from offshore

Nov 02, 2021 News

…says world will still need 24 million barrels daily, why shouldn’t we be in the supply chain

Kaieteur News – Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday defended the ever expanding production of Oil and Gas in Guyana by pointing to the fact that even in 2050—when the world is aiming

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo during his press engagement yesterday

for net zero emissions—there would still be a need for some 24 million barrels of oil daily, down from the current rate of about 100 million daily.Dr. Jagdeo shared his position yesterday during a press engagement that coincided with the World Leaders Summit at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) underway in Glasgow, Scotland which is being held under the auspices of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
According to Vice President Jagdeo, while many are quick to point to institutions such as International Energy Agency (IEA) that speak to the need for no new financing for fossil fuel projects, what the critics fail to mention, is that in 2050 even the IEA concedes that some 24 million barrels of oil will still be needed.
According to Jagdeo, under the IEA’s most optimistic scenarios, in 2050 there would still be a global demand for some 24 million barrels, “so who is going to supply this, why should we not be the ones supplying it.”
He was adamant, “our objective has to be to try to get as much out as possible from the sector, as quickly as possible and then invest in the low carbon sector of the future.”
The Vice President was at the time ardently defending Guyana’s oil and gas production, which he said would also be addressed by President Irfaan Ali when he addresses COP 26.
Dr. Jagdeo used the occasion to also point out that although the IEA speaks about oil peaking in 2025 and then declining to 24 million barrels per day by 2050 “the pace of that change is determined by the users too.”
To this end, he posits there is a projected increase in demand in the coming years for energy and suggested that “a lot of countries don’t even have electricity for their people.”
According to Jagdeo, there are currently tens of millions of people across the globe without electricity, “they have to get access to electricity, so demand will grow there.”
He speculated that pressing to shut down the fossil fuel industry will require something to fill the gap.
He noted too that in order for the world to move towards complete renewable electricity, it will require some four trillion dollars in investments by 2030 to fill that gap. He was unwavering in his position that growing demand coupled with dwindling supplies could only mean that the price of electricity in the future would skyrocket.
Slamming the developed world, Dr. Jagdeo used the opportunity to point out that in the vicinity of the Climate Change conference there was recently the commissioning of a new coal fired plant.
To this end, he said that as it relates to Guyana’s hydrocarbon, “it has to be carefully planned” and argued that, “if we don’t develop our resources like some of our people (who are) saying, then you giving a monopoly only to the existing producers; how do you want a fair deal for Guyana when you want us to park our oil and gas sector.”
According to Jagdeo, the world will still be producing 100 million barrels a day before gradually winding down to some 24 million barrels a day by 2050.
To this end, the Vice President urged Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to not just “regurgitate wholesale everything” they hear but rather to understand that a fair deal for Guyana must be seen in the global climate change context, a fair deal for Guyana being aligned with the global goal of decarbonising.
In fact, the Vice President in blasting world leaders currently deliberating Climate Change and its impact at COP26, said “we provide a free decarbonisation option for the world, (through the forest) when for the other options people are getting paid,” referencing Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology currently being developed.
To this end, Dr. Jagdeo was adamant the, “world must step up and pay for eco system services provided by the forest.”
He in fact used the occasion to outline Guyana’s intention to market its forest services and to be paid some US$500M annually—15 percent of which he said, would be invested in indigenous communities.
Meanwhile, as it relates to COP26 and its objectives, the Vice President was adamant that the developed world needs to do more and step up especially as it relates to promised financing and international pledges.
According to Jagdeo, the developed world has since 11 years ago, during the Copenhagen meeting, promised the developing world some US$100B annually but this has not been happening.
As it relates to COP26, Jagdeo said Guyana would be pressing for some form of a binding mechanism, to hold the developed world accountable and cited as example that disbursements said to be made by the developed world, are at variance with the accounts that document receipt of any such funds in the developing world.
He said too, that as it relates to pledges on emission targets, there needs to be more transparency in this area too and that countries must be held accountable to their commitments even as he cautioned that despite all the pledges made from the developed world, it is not enough to achieve the target of keeping global temperature below 1.5 degrees.