Introduction
This week’s column considers Guidepost 5 in Guyana’s Road Map for its petroleum sector in the dimension: “getting petroleum resources.” Because the Government of Guyana (GoG) is building its petroleum sector on the foundation of Petroleum Agreements with International Oil Contractors (IOCs), their capability for exploiting deepwater/ultra-deepwater offshore plays (especially in the testing areas of capex, skills and technology) is of paramount importance. On the face of it, such capability seems assured for the present lead IOCs operating in Guyana.
While a significant number of companies, local and foreign, are currently positioning themselves for petroleum licences, two IOC groupings stand out, namely 1) ExxonMobil and partners; and 2) Eco Atlantic/Tullow/Total. These two sets of IOCs are described below.