US company Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has restated its interest in drilling for oil offshore Guyana.
The visit here last week by company officials came in the wake of a significant oil find by ExxonMobil in Guyana’s waters earlier this year.
In 2013, Anadarko had been engaged in extensive work prior to drilling in Guyana’s western waters when a research vessel doing studies on its behalf was seized by the Vene-zuelan navy. That move has scuppered work since.
In a comment to Stabroek News on Satur-day, Trotman said “The recent visit was … meant to inform Guyana that the company was still just as interested in developing the exploration blocks it has, and to receive an update on the ongoing Guyana/Venezuela controversy. Drilling is still a good way off. The company also supports Guyana’s efforts to finding a peaceful, definitive and permanent judicial solution (to the controversy)”.
A release from the ministry on the visit had said that Anadarko representatives Luis Derrota, Associate General Counsel and Richard Lapin, Inter-national Business Deve-lopment held discussions with Trotman and other officials of the sector and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The objective was to provide an update to the Minister on the company’s proposed work programme for the development of hydrocarbons in Guyana.
The release noted that Anadarko Guyana Com-pany has an exploration licence for the Roraima Block in the ultra-deep-water offshore Guyana and “expressed how keen it is to recommence its activities.”
The release said that Trotman assured the representatives of Anadarko that the Government will continue to take relevant measures to preserve its sovereignty.
The US petroleum giant had its programme of exploration for offshore Guyana for 2013 abruptly halted on October 10, when a corvette from the Venezuelan Navy intercepted the seismic exploring vessel, MV Teknik Perdana and directed it to steam towards the Venezuelan island of Margarita. The MV Teknik Perdana was indirectly under contract with Anadarko to explore the Roraima Block with a view to determining whether commercial quantities of hydrocarbon existed.
According to one of the company’s corporate reports for 2013, it had planned 2D Seismic surveys of the Roraima Block for 2013. It said too that Guyana had proven oil producing areas in which multiple play types had been identified.
After the release of the vessel by Venezuela, talks between the foreign ministers of Guyana and Venezuela resulted in a decision to have the countries’ technical experts meet in four months to discuss maritime delimitation. They also reiterated that dialogue and cooperation are the means for a peaceful solution of differences between States. These talks were never held as Venezuela provided a list of excuses leaving Takuba Lodge with the view that there was never any intention to have any type of talks which could permit Anadarko to resume its work.
This view has been further heightened by the recent issuing of two maritime decrees by Caracas intended to interfere with the operations of ExxonMobil off the coast of Demerara.
Anadarko is among the world’s largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies.
