The next steps in a new energy alliance between Brazil, Guyana, and Suriname are expected this week, with the heads of state for each nation meeting in Guyana on Friday to discuss a series of potential new energy projects.
As part of the alliance, an energy corridor to connect the nations’ significant oil and gas reserves has been proposed, with potential infrastructure projects along the corridor worth around $800m. Funding for these schemes is anticipated to come from government concessions and private investment.
Among the projects under consideration are a 1,500km road between Brazil’s Northern Roraima state and a potential deepwater port in Guyana, and a 1.2km bridge across a Guyana-Suriname river.
A formal accord on the Arco Norte project – a 3,000MW power connection between Guyana, French Guyana, Suriname, and Brazil – is also expected to be signed this week. The project features a natural gas pipeline that is intended to service several projects along the corridor.
The region has recently risen to prominence as an area of great offshore potential, with discoveries over the last few years attracting the attention of supermajors.
Guyana has seen some of the most significant offshore discoveries in recent years, with 10 billion barrels of oil and gas confirmed since 2019. The nation has previously voiced its ambition to become one of the top oil producers in South America over the next four years, with a 220km subsea pipeline announced in October last year, transporting about 50 million standard cubic feet per day from the ExxonMobil-operated Liza Phase 1 and 2 projects.
Suriname has also been a site of offshore discoveries, with four discoveries made in 2020 showing “promise to become an oil production hot spot in the near to mid-term”.
Brazil is currently the largest oil producer in South America, as well as the global ninth largest oil producer, playing host to the largest recoverable ultra-deep oil reserves in the world.
