The Prime Minister of Grenada, Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, has confirmed a commercial hydrocarbon find offshore Grenada, the day before national elections are carded.
According to an article from Now Grenada, Prime Minister Mitchell indicated that hydrocarbons were found in huge commercial quantities, though the press statements are confusing about whether the find is oil or gas. Dr. Mitchell stated that one well with millions of cubic feet of gas was currently being evaluated and there are several other wells to be drilled.
While details have not been released, in late June last year, a wildcat exploration well, called Nutmeg 2, was spudded by Global Petroleum Group (GPG), a little-known Russian company. The well, located in about 400 feet of water near to Grenada’s maritime boundary with Venezuela, was drilled using the Transocean-owned semi-submersible Development Driller III. This was confirmed by the government in December.
Dr. Mitchell was further quoted as saying that the gas findings were being tested for quality.
Last year, the government disclosed that it had issued a license to the Russian-based Global Petroleum Group to conduct the necessary exploration activities to locate oil and natural gas within the island's territorial waters. In June 2017, Parliament approved the Hydrocarbon Exploration Incentive Bill 2017, outlining a package of incentives for oil and gas exploration to any company.