SOUTH FLORIDA – Global oil giant ExxonMobil has accepted an invitation to speak at a forum in South Florida on Wednesday, December 14, titled ‘Navigating A Changing Guyana-Pathways to Economic Prosperity in the Era of Oil & Gas’ being put on by the Guyanese American Chamber of Commerce (GACC) in conjunction with the Guyana Business Journal (GBJ).
Ambassador Craig A. Kelly, Senior Director, International Government Relations at ExxonMobil will be among the speakers at the event which GACC president Wesley Kirton says has been organized to give members of the Diaspora and interested friends of Guyana updated information ands analysis about developments taking place in the emerging oil and gas sector as well as contribute their ideas about the pathways to economic prosperity for the country and all its people.
Craig A. Kelly was appointed senior director of international government relations at Exxon Mobil Corporation in November 2012. He is based in Washington, D.C.
Kelly is a former career U.S. diplomat who spent 26 years in Foreign Service. He held a variety of posts in Europe and Latin America and was U.S. ambassador to Chile from 2004-2007.
From 2001-2004, Ambassador Kelly served as executive assistant to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and traveled to more than 90 countries in that capacity. He later served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, overseeing U.S. policy and operations in 35 countries and troubleshooting regional crises such as the 2009 coup in Honduras. In 2010, he was the senior-most U.S. official to travel to Havana, Cuba, in 15 years.
Kelly also held positions in Rome, Paris and Bogota’, and covered Western European affairs at the National Security Council.
After leaving the State Department, he ran the Latin America practice at the Cohen Group, a Washington D.C.-based international consulting firm, from 2010 to 2012.
Kelly received a bachelor’s degree (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and a Ph.D. in romance languages and history from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also studied at Stanford University and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in Paris. He was a Fulbright scholar in Italy. He speaks fluent Spanish, French, Italian, and intermediate Portuguese.
The forum to be held at the Miramar Cultural Center will comprise two panel discussions featuring Guyana’s former foreign minister and current advisor on border issues Carl Greenidge, director of the Local Business Development Center in Guyana Natasha Gaskin-Peters, executive director for the Americas at Florida International University Jerry Haas, economist Joel Bhagwandin, director, SphereX Professional Services in Guyana, Arthur Deakin, director of energy at Americas Market Intelligence and Onicka Jones, Public Relations Officer at the Guyana Private Sector Commission (PSC).
The Mayor of the City of Miramar Wayne Messam, Honorary Consul of Guyana in Florida Ramzan Roshanali, GACC Chairman Eldon Bremner and Professor Terrence Blackman, founder of the Guyana Business Journal will speak at the formal opening of the forum.
Professor Terrence Blackman and Wesley Kirton will moderate the two panels.
Guyana, located at the northern tip of South America is English speaking and is part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) group of countries. Guyana is ranked number 17 in the world for oil reserves and among one of the fastest growing economies globally.
In July 2022, crude oil reserves for Guyana were 275.71 thousand barrels per day. Crude oil reserves of Guyana increased from 124.61 thousand barrels per day in August 2021 to 275.71 thousand barrels per day in July 2022 growing at an average annual rate of 25.24%.
It is estimated that over 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil resources have been discovered in the Stabroek Block. Guyana has been the global leader for new discoveries since 2015, with 11.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which amounts to 18% of total global discoveries and 32% of discovered oil.
