Grenada: PM Mitchell mum on potential new gas deal

By Rumi Samuel Published on November 01, 2024

Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell says he is unable to comment on the arrangement that Global Petroleum Group recently signed with Nigeria’s Oceangate Oil and Gas Engineering company to develop the island’s oil and gas reserves.

The deal, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights, a website which focuses on the global energy and commodities markets, is valued at US$1.8 billion.

Asked to comment on the reported agreement, Mitchell said he could not disclose any details on the matter.

“I cannot speak to it because if you read the article, you will see that nowhere in it, does it speak about the Government of Grenada, I can’t speak. I have seen the article just like yourself; I am not in a position to speak on the matter,” he told the nightly Mikey Live news outlet.

But the chief executive officer of Oceangate, Dr Aisha Achimugu, says that the deal has the potential to reach billions of dollars as the companies develop Grenada’s “significant” hydrocarbon reserves.

Global Petroleum Group is an oil and gas exploration company which registered in Grenada in 2003. Records at the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office show that it is listed as having 100,000,000 ordinary shares.

GPG has conducted explorations in Grenada’s offshore blocks, but proven hydrocarbon reserves have not yet been fully quantified. A 2018 discovery at the Nutmeg-2 well, suggests significant potential. Oceangate’s involvement could accelerate the assessment and potential production of these resources.

The agreement between Oceangate and GPG involves a production-sharing arrangement with Grenada’s government for 38 years, covering approximately 7,500 square kilometres of offshore zones.

When she delivered the traditional Throne speech at the ceremonial opening of the 2023/2024 parliamentary session, Governor General, Dame Cecile La Grenade, said that the Mitchell administration, which was elected in June 2022, was unable to find documents about the island oil and gas reserves and a technical working group would be appointed to investigate the matter.

The government is yet to provide an update about the missing document but a notice from the technical working group published in various editions of the official Gazette earlier in the year advertised the position for a legal consultant.

Media reports say that Nigeria is aiming to diversify its markets for refined products, especially with the start-up of the Dangote refinery, with its capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, which is one of the largest in Africa.

The refinery recently hosted Prime Minister Mitchell to discuss potential partnerships in the energy sector, as well as in cement and fertilizers.

“This visit highlights the power of collaboration and visionary leadership in building strategic partnerships that can fuel sustainable growth and development for Grenada and the entire Caribbean region,” the Office of the Prime Minister said of the mid-October visit.

Rumi Samuel

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