Reuters has reported on how at the Offshore Technology Conference (held in Houston, Texas) Ghana, Guyana and Suriname (along with Brazil) have stated their intention to tap oil and gas reserves within their countries. The conference generally saw a focus on cleaner fuels, low-emissions technology and the urgency of emissions reduction, making the statements of the emerging oil-producing countries stand out. Such intentions, however, are perfectly understandable – the countries could do with the revenue, and demand for the products is likely to be lower in the decades to come as electric vehicles come to outnumber fossil fuelled ones. Ghana Energy Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh told the conference that “we have millions of people without electricity in Africa… energy transition does not mean we’ll see our resources unexploited.” Guyana’s vice president, Bharrat Jagdeo used his address to the conference to say that “We have been called to leave our oil in the ground. We believe that’s totally unfair,” adding that the country’s forests could absorb emissions from oil and gas operations. An oil worker from neighbouring Suriname, which is partnering with TotalEnergies, Chevron and Qatar Petroleum on potential finds, expressed his view that the country needs oil and gas revenue to invest in green industries. Proponents of oil and gas projects in the region point to lower expected per-barrel emissions as a reason why production would be beneficial for climate change mitigation efforts, as fossil fuels will be consumed anyway. Brazil’s oil regulator Rodolfo Saboia said that with “the energy transition, if we don’t offer these assets now, we will risk to leave resources on the ground… this is the last big window of opportunity.”