“Gas is the afterthought,” says Les Anthony, CEO of Teyshas Energy and a veteran reservoir engineer with nearly five decades in the oil and gas sector. As part of the Deep Water Development Consortium alongside ADM and Future Energy Partners, Teyshas Energy has offered advisory input to the government of Guyana on offshore block development, giving Anthony firsthand insight into cross-border gas strategy and the challenges of building a regional gas hub.

This challenge is becoming increasingly urgent. In Guyana alone, gas production is rising in tandem with oil output, with roughly 1,000 to 1,400 standard cubic feet of gas produced per barrel of oil. With billions of barrels of oil under development, this translates into trillions of cubic feet of associated gas – far exceeding what domestic markets can absorb.

While efforts are underway to utilize gas for power generation, fertilizer production and petrochemicals, these solutions address only a fraction of the total volume. “Even with multiple gas-to-energy projects and industrial use, you might absorb a quarter to a third of total gas,” Anthony explains. “That still leaves a lot of gas.”

The default solution so far has been reinjection – pumping gas back into reservoirs to maintain pressure and support oil production. But this comes at a cost. “Reinjection isn’t free,” Anthony notes. “If gas-to-oil ratios increase from 1,000 to 1,400 standard cubic feet, then the gas handling cost associated with oil production also rises by 40%. And it will continue to rise until they can find a way to utilize the gas.”

What was once a manageable byproduct is now a structural challenge for operators, highlighting what Anthony calls “the elephant in the room”: how to monetize the remaining gas at scale. One option stands out – floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG).

“FLNG is probably the right scale for dealing with these volumes,” he says. Unlike domestic solutions, FLNG allows for large-scale processing and export directly from offshore fields, bypassing the need for extensive onshore infrastructure and local demand. It also aligns with the offshore nature of the region’s discoveries, offering a more flexible and potentially faster route to commercialization.

However, the viability of such projects extends beyond individual developments. For FLNG – and any large-scale gas solution – to succeed, coordination at a regional level may be essential.

“If you add in Suriname and the Corentyne Block in Guyana, you’re in the realm of cross-border planning and joint development to build a meaningful Caribbean gas hub. This is in the vision of both governments, with a joint commission from each country working on it. That’s probably the future of gas in the Suriname–Guyana basin.”

Existing infrastructure in Trinidad and Tobago, which has long been a regional LNG producer, could also play a role – particularly as its facilities face declining feedgas supply. Pipeline connections or regional integration could provide an additional pathway for monetization. Yet none of this will happen without proactive coordination and long-term planning.

“The strongest thing governments can do is manage their resources and take an active role. Companies are obliged to work meaningfully with the countries, and I believe they want to. This will require ideas and propositions from the government side – outlining projected energy needs, how to use the resource to meet them, and considering export options.”

The timelines are also significant. Large-scale gas infrastructure – whether FLNG or onshore facilities — can take five years or more to develop, with full realization of a regional gas ecosystem potentially spanning decades. “This is a 10- to 20-year horizon,” he says.

The stakes, however, extend well beyond the energy sector. If managed effectively, gas development could underpin sustained economic growth, support industrialization and improve energy access across the region. If not, there is a risk that significant volumes remain underutilized – or that opportunities are delayed.

History offers a cautionary example. In Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, where Anthony began his career, vast gas resources have been reinjected for decades due to a lack of export infrastructure and market access. “That gas is still sitting there,” he notes.

The Caribbean now faces a similar inflection point, but with the benefit of hindsight. As oil production continues to dominate headlines, the region’s long-term energy story may ultimately depend on whether it can solve its gas challenge. And increasingly, that challenge is not about how much gas exists – but how to bring it to market at scale.