New Delhi: The year is ending on a good night for India’s petroleum sector, with the Cooperative Republic of Guyana inviting Indian companies to participate in the exploration and production of crude oil, with oil blocks slated for auction in 2026.
Guyana’s oil sector is booming, transforming the small South American nation into a major global player after massive offshore discoveries in the Stabroek Block, with production soaring past 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) in late 2025. This is slated to go up to 1.7 million bpd by 2030.
Guyana High Commissioner Dharamkumar Seeraj, in an interview to ANI, on Wednesday, expressed optimism that energy ties between the two countries will grow in the coming years, while noting that his country supplied nearly six million barrels of crude oil to India in 2025.
Given the geopolitical scenario and US sanctions linked to the purchase of Russian oil, India is actively working to diversify its energy supply chains. This invitation will be welcomed under the circumstances.
“Guyana wants to diversify its economy. I foresee that our relationship with India will expand in the area of trade of oil and gas already this year; a total of 6 million barrels of crude oil were sent to India. And I see a significant increase in the coming years.” Seeraj said in response to a question.
He highlighted India’s growing interest and said that Indian companies are not only potential buyers of Guyanese crude but could also play a role in upstream activities.
“India has shown that interest, and India, of course, needs a lot of oil as a country to send
more and more oil to India itself. And as we get more and more companies involved in drilling, we expect that private sector companies, which are single companies in India, will express an interest, not only in purchasing crude, but also in the extraction of oil,” Seeraj added.
A second offshore oil block auction is expected to be held in 2026, following Guyana’s first auction launched in 2022, under which six companies were awarded eight blocks in 2023, as reported by the news agency.
“It is our hope, speaking from Guyana’s perspective, it’s our hope that we will attract a wide cross section of investors in the oil and gas sector coming from different countries, and quite frankly, we’ll be very happy if Indian companies show up,” the High Commissioner added.
The South American country, with a large Indian diaspora, is looking to expand cooperation with India in infrastructure, education, renewable energy and digital sectors as well. Seeraj noted that Indian companies are already active in road construction, transportation infrastructure and renewable energy projects in the country.
“They have built our cricket stadium, they are constructing roads, and Indian firms are dominating the renewable energy space, including solar power stations operating across different regions,” he said.
Guyana is targeting the production of 100 megawatts of renewable energy over the next five years, and an Indian company recently signed a contract to establish a solar power plant. The country is also pursuing a 300-megawatt gas-to-energy project aimed at lowering electricity costs, currently among the highest in South America, and has floated expressions of interest for a hydroelectric power project.
“We want to encourage Indian companies to come in, depending on the project, through different partnership models,” Seeraj said, adding that discussions are also underway with Indian institutions on education cooperation, including the possibility of offshore campuses.