The Government of Guyana, which has recently become a hotspot for oil discoveries, has announced a three-month extension to the deadline for bids in the country’s first-ever round for offshore licenses.
When the round was launched for 14 offshore blocks in December last year, the deadline for bids was set at April 14, 2023. Based on feedback from the industry, as well as the need to modernise the country’s regulatory framework for oil and gas production, the new deadline will be July 15. A statement from the country’s Ministry of Natural Resources said:
“The Round, officially launched on December 9, 2022, continues to receive strong global interest and the government has benefited from insightful feedback during the consultation periods of the Indicative Terms and Guidelines and the draft model production sharing agreements (PSAs).”
Together with its partner Hess, ExxonMobil, the maker of the Mobil DTE range of hydraulic oil, has made a string of more than 20 discoveries totalling in excess of 11 billion barrels in recoverable reserves. Exxon is already pumping 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from the first developed wells that it operates, but John Hess, the CEO of Hess, recently said the country was on track to produce 1.2 million bpd by 2027, just from the six projects that are either operational or in the pipeline.
Some ten companies are rumoured to be interested in participating in the new licensing round, including state-owned Petrobras of Brazil and the traditional oil majors Chevron and Shell.
