Grenada's Government Has Yet to Review Oil and Gas Agreement Signed With African Company

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – The chairman of Grenada’s Hydrocarbons Technical Working Group, Nazim Burke, says members of the working group are yet to discuss the agreement signed between the Global Petroleum Group (GPG) and the Nigerian-owned Oceangate Oil and Gas Engineering to develop the country’s oil and gas resources.

Nizam Burke on the GBN programme “Beyond the Headlines” (CMC Photo)GPG is an oil and gas exploration company which registered in Grenada in 2003. It 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 Oil and Gas Engineering is one of the companies owned by Nigerian Businesswoman, Aisha Achimugu, the managing director and chief executive officer of Felak Concept Group.

She is one of the thousands of Nigerians to be approved as a citizen of Grenada under the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program, through which citizenship is granted to foreign investors in return for making a substantial investment in the country’s socio-economic development.

In October 2024, Oceangate Oil and Gas Engineering signed the agreement with GPG reported to be valued at approximately EC$1.8 billion (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents).

Following the signing agreement,  a report on www.billionaires.africa said that GPG 38-year production-sharing agreement (PSA) with the Grenada government covers over 7,500 square kilometers of offshore blocks and it marks a new chapter in Grenada’s role within the Caribbean energy sector.

Burke, appearing on the Grenada Broadcasting Network’s (GBN) “Beyond the Headlines”  program on Monday night, acknowledged that the agreement had been signed, but told viewers that the Technical Working Group which was appoint in late 2023 had not yet reviewed the document.

“We heard the GPG had entered into an agreement with a Nigerian based company, we cannot say very much about the details about that, it was confirmed in our meetings with the GPG that they had signed an MOU with that entity but we have not had sight of that agreement or MOU.

“They did promise to provide it but to date we have not seen it, and so we cannot speak to other agreements other than the Oceangate agreement that we have heard of, ” said Burke, who served as energy minister during the 2008 to 2013 National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

He said that despite the delay, the agreement must be reviewed by the government because any partner selected by GPG must be approved by the government.

“I believe ultimately they will cooperate because at the end of the day they have spent money and I think they will want to realize a return on the money… and in order to do so they have to work with the government because ultimately it’s the patrimony of Grenada and any partner that they bring in has to be approved by the government of Grenada,” he added.

“This is a sovereign nation, and the government will exercise its prerogative as the State and so I am sure that negotiations will progress. They may not move as quickly or as smoothly as one will want but I am confident that these matters will be resolved in due course,” said Burke, whose Group is tasked with, among other things, presenting a report to the government on the technical and economic feasibility of developing Grenada’s hydrocarbon reserves.