Almost three years since Guyana declined to enter into a long-term oil supply deal with India, the issue has arisen again and the government has again poured cold water on the idea. Back in August 2021, a Reuters report had stated that the Government of Guyana had declined to entertain a request from New Delhi for a multi-year oil purchase deal as well as a stake in the country’s wider oil industry. It may have appeared that the conditions for such a deal might be propitious given that in March 2021, India had bought and shipped the first ever consignment of oil to be shipped from ‘newbie’ oil producer, Guyana even as New Delhi sought to reduce its dependence on oil from the Middle East.
At that time, the response to India’s expression in a long-term deal was also articulated by Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who had reportedly said that such an agreement had to derive from “hard bargaining” that would have to take Guyana’s interest on board. India’s enormous demand for crude imports is reflected in the fact that while, last year, the country was listed as the twenty-second biggest global oil producer (737,000 barrels per day with a 0.8% market share), the country’s huge domestic demand is reflected in the fact that only mainland China and the United States ‘tops’ India for crude oil imports.
