In keeping with Canadian company CGX’s relinquishment provision in its contract, the Guyana government on Wednesday said that a notice of blocks to be given up will be provided soon and added to this country’s first-time auction scheduled for September.
“We are working with CGX now on a solution and they should issue a statement shortly that could possibly see more of the Demerara and Berbice blocks being put to the auction,” Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told a press conference at the Office of the President. He said that given the company is a publicly traded company and will soon issue its own release on the agreement reached, he did not want to divulge too much, but was firm in saying that no extension of works were given.
“We are working on a solution that you will see announced [either today or tomorrow] that could result in a larger portion of those already relinquished blocks going to the auction in September once settled,” Jagdeo emphasized. “Right now we have not discussed any other extension on any other matter,” he added.
It remains unclear how much of the offshore area is due back to Guyana through relinquishments by oil companies but areas in the Kanuku, Corentyne, Demerara, Canje and the Kaieteur Blocks are expected to be up for auction. Also unclear is if ExxonMobil will be barred from bidding, since it was reported by the Financial Post that government was weighing its options on including the company that has the most oil and gas developments here. An agreement was entered into with ExxonMobil for its continued works in the Stabroek Block on scheduled relinquished areas and the then government had, in 2019, announced that the company had relinquished 20% of the Canje Block area.
On the remaining blocks, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Commissioner, Newell Dennison, had in 2018, told this newspaper that from rough determinations, approximately 9,500 sq. km is available within the coastal environment, 24,000 sq. km within the environment of the continental shelf, 10,000 sq. km within the deep water environment and 9,000 sq. km within the ultra-deep water environment. Most interest has been on the offshore area and particularly in the deep sea following major discoveries there by ExxonMobil in 2015 putting the highly coveted BLOCK C as the most sought after area.
According to a February 2020 updated GGMC map, there are not many areas left that have not been contracted out to companies.
The companies that have blocks in the deep water area, are: Repsol and Tullow Oil (the Kanuku Block); Tullow (the Orinduik Block); Anadarko (the Roraima Block); Ratio Oil (the Kaieteur Block); Esso, CNOOC Nexen and Hess (the Stabroek Block); Esso, Mid Atlantic and JHI (the Canje Block); CGX (the Demerara and Corentyne blocks); ON Energy; and Nabi. Jagdeo has said that while a decision has been made on auctioning future blocks, the crucial decision would be if to go to auction with or without seismic data. “We would have to go through an open process to ensure future blocks are auctioned.” “Do we auction with or without seismic data?” was the question he sought to have answered.
The news of negotiations with CGX comes even as government is yet to clarify the arrangement with the company building a port in Berbice, given that President Ali had announced that Abu Dhabi Port of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) are likewise engaged in discussion with the government to build a port in Berbice.
