The Department of Energy (DE) is currently wrapping up the contract details for a seismic study that should begin this year to gather further data to guide the bidding process for Block C, an offshore ultra-deepwater area to the north-east of the lucrative Stabroek block, according to Director Dr. Mark Bynoe.
Bynoe told reporters at a briefing on Monday that the procurement arrangements for the contracted company to undertake the study will soon be completed and he would then inform the public. “We are waiting on them to sign off and then we can make a formal declaration,” he said.
In July of last year, several companies placed multi-million US dollar bids to undertake the offshore study: Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS), which bid US$28.5 million; TGS Geological Company, which bid US$28.7 million; Fugro USA Marine, which bid US$10.9 million; GEREX Limited, which bid US$7.3 million; ION Geophysical Corporation, which bid US$44.8 million; and CGG Services UK Limited, which did not place a bid at the time.
PGS is a United Kingdom company that had in 2008 done the shoot of a similar study for both ExxonMobil and the Government of Guyana.
It was from the sale of those 2D packages that saw a renewed interest in the offshore area and US oil company Anadarko subsequently taking a stake in the offshore Roraima Block or Block A. In 2012, the company was granted an exploration licence for the block.
Bynoe said that the upcoming study will expand on the past seismic works as it will give more detailed delineation and trapping information of the subsea surface of Block C. As a result, both the country and the data purchaser stand to gain more as they are both in a better position to gauge the worth of the area. “In terms of going to a potential licensing round… you do not want to be buying a puss in bag,” he said.
Selling data packages is also a revenue earner since companies with interest in a specific area pay much for the information. Some places, such as in the Gulf of Mexico, update their seismic studies frequently. Purchasing data packages is also a typical pre-requisite for bidders.
Bynoe has already said that a competitive bidding process would likely be used for Guyana’s next award of oil licences and the DE has said it will first await the completion of the seismic surveying as well as the update of legislation before going ahead.
“As the Department has been on record indicating, this is likely to be a bid round. We are also aiming to conduct a multi-client seismic survey for data packages to encourage greater interest in the shallow continental shelf,” Bynoe told a press conference last year February.
