Hayes is one of three partners, along with China National Offshore Oil Corporation and ExxonMobil, operating the vast Stabroek oil field off the coast of Guyana.
Guyana, with 800,000 residents, is already the country with the most reserves per capita in the world – more than 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent – well ahead of Brunei, Kuwait or the United Arab Emirates.
Under the deal, Hayes is to be paid $750 million over the next 18 months.
Ali pointed out that Guyana has 18 million hectares – or 89 percent of the country’s forests – still intact and storing 19.5 gigatonnes of carbon, which is estimated to be worth US$40-50 billion.
Guyana also boasts the second largest percentage of forest cover on Earth.