On the evening of January 17, 2020, at around 10 pm, fireworks rattled the air and lit up the night sky at the Kitty Seawall near to the Atlantic Ocean in Georgetown, Guyana, South America.
Guyanese were celebrating a proud moment in Guyana’s history: the successful extraction of the first 1 million barrels of crude. The occasion marks a turning point for Guyana: one which many Guyanese hope will turn the tides of economic fortune in the favor of all Guyanese.
Guyana is now, officially, an oil producing nation. In fact, proportionally speaking, Guyana has more oil per citizen than any other country in world – giving rise to the speculation that oil production will make Guyana richer than anyone’s wildest dreams.
In fact, in a report published sometime last year, the International Monetary fund (IMF) projected that Guyana’s economy will grow by at least 86% percent in the year 2020 – that is, 14 times faster than the economy of China.
Also last year, a report published by the British Broadcasting Corporation suggested that Guyana’s oil wealth could make it not just the richest country in South America, but, if utilized correctly, the richest country in the world.
On the 20th of December, 2019, it was announced by the Guyana Government that Guyana will begin oil production a few months ahead of the originally scheduled 2020 date.
The President of Guyana, David Granger, has also named December 20th, 2019 as “National Petroleum Day” in commemoration of the date that Guyana first began extracting crude.
ExxonMobil Guyana Public and Government Affairs Advisor, Janelle Persaud, has said that the first tanker of crude oil from the Liza field will begin loading this weekend.
