Gas monetisation remains priority, says Jagdeo

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that the government has not taken any options off the table with regards to the monetisation of liquified natural gas.

Speaking during his weekly press conference at Freedom House on Thursday, Dr. Jagdeo said this is despite recent comments by Chief Executive Officer of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, that this may not be a priority.

“We haven’t taken any options off the table as yet,” he noted.

“We want a revenue flow…I don’t want it taken off the table. We want to monetise the gas as soon as possible. We want maximum benefits,” he added.

Dr. Jagdeo noted that the government remains committed to ensuring maximum benefits are derived from natural gas to drive economic gains for Guyana, adding that it is seeking to have private partners on board with ExxonMobil.

“We want to ensure that the gas is utilised by Exxon. If they don’t want to move forward with the project then we will explore other contractors who are interested…It’s about having a company that would work with us on a tripartite basis, and execute with us on the same tripartite basis. We’re serious about it,” he noted.

Dr. Jagdeo said the government has made it clear that it wants to move forward sooner rather than later, while also ensuring that necessary security measures are in place.