Up to yesterday there was no update by the Department of Energy (DE) on the results so far of the bidding process being used by government to sell first oil cargoes.
When Stabroek News contacted Dr. Mark Bynoe, Director of the Department of Energy, on whether the process has been advanced, he responded, “We will be providing an update when we have something to share.”
Stabroek News then asked Dr. Bynoe whether he was aware of when the process is likely to progress, or to be completed, to which he again responded, “We will be providing an update when we have something to share.”
On December 13th, financial news service Bloomberg reported that government had sent a letter to refiners around the globe inviting them to bid for three million barrels of Liza Blend crude, which Guyana will begin exporting next year. “The catch is that the buyer must take the unusual role of handling ‘all operating and back office responsibilities’ related to exporting the crude,” the report said, citing a document it had seen. Oil traders from Houston, Geneva and London, numbering about half a dozen, were expected to begin bidding last week Monday, the report said.
There was no prior announcement of the planned bidding, resulting in the DE on December 15th, issuing a statement to explain that it was undertaking a two-step process: an initial direct sale in the short term to selected bidders to set national benchmarks for selling Guyana’s portion of its crude in the future, followed by a public request for proposals for marketing services for Guyana’s crude.
Bynoe subsequently said no laws were broken in the selection of companies to come here to bid on Guyana’s first three lifts of oil from the Liza-1 field, while adding that the plan was to conclude the process now underway before going public in order to protect government’s negotiating position.
Among those international oil companies (IOCs) invited by the Government of Guyana are Stabroek Block operator ExxonMobil and its co-venturers CNOOC and Hess and other oil majors, including Chevron, Total, ENI and Sol.
