Brazil and Guyana agreed to expand energy cooperation on Friday during President Jair Bolsonaro’s visit to Georgetown, where the South American neighbours also signed infrastructure and legal agreements.

Guyana, a former British and Dutch colony, has emerged as one of the major low-cost oil producing countries, with plans to sell off offshore oil blocks at the end of the year.

“In terms of oil and gas, we have a Brazilian giant called Petrobras for whom cooperation with Guyana is becoming an ever greater reality. That’s what we hope for,” said Bolsonaro.

US giant ExxonMobil announced in April the discovery of three new oil deposits in Guyana, raising estimates of the country’s oil reserves to the equivalent of 11 billion barrels.

Those discoveries fueled Guyana’s existing border dispute with Venezuela, which wants to explore territorial waters claimed by both countries.

Guyana President Irfaan Ali evoked the idea of creating an energy corridor through his country, Brazil and Surinam.

“In the area of energy, we have discussed working together on a natural gas strategy and how that can be integrated in the development of Brazil and how we can coordinate and cooperate in this area,” said Ali.

Brazil will offer Guyana with IT teams and programme to assist in information collection for military and security, as well as the construction of a deep water port, road and rail links, hydroelectric energy development, fibre optic connectivity, and agricultural projects, as part of the agreements.

They also signed agreements for civil and criminal legal cooperation.