Fourteen companies yesterday bid to provide marketing services for Guyana’s oil for the next year from the Liza-1 Destiny and Liza-2 Unity platforms and among them is Stabroek Block partner, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
Also vying as a marketer for the country’s oil entitlement is the state-owned, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of the United Arab Emirates.
In September, due to concerns which were raised about the government not giving full details about the requirements for prospective marketers of its oil, the Ministry of Natural Resources later revealed some of the criteria for the prospective bidders.
Stabroek News had previously reported that among other things, it said, marketers would be responsible for providing all functions of marketing; assessing regional and global demand centres; selecting customers and making appropriate transportation arrangements; and providing support and guidance to the client – in this case, the Government of Guyana – in all operating and back-office responsibilities of managing these crude sales and each individual lifting whilst facilitating timely and cost-efficient crude oil operations.
It added that marketers would also be responsible for supporting the client in the continued introduction of the grade to multiple geographies and refinery systems and providing benchmark performance comparisons of prices paid for the client’s crude; working closely with the client in understanding the behaviour and yields of the Liza blend and how these affect pricing differentials; supporting the client with market information requests related to the demand, supply, pricing and trade in the oil market and crude oil trading capacity; and buttressing the client in understanding and advocating for any operational considerations that may affect the pricing of crude.
The portfolio which was presented by the ministry in September had given descriptive requirements, and also pointed out that companies must also possess “detailed knowledge, a respected marketing presence and a history in the global crude oil market, and other requirements.”
This newspaper had previously reported that, specifically, government wants its next marketer to have at least ten years of experience in crude oil marketing and trading – within the last ten years as a company; experience in crude oil trading and marketing volumes by geography over the last five years with verifiable similar services with national oil companies and governments and crude oil trading and marketing volumes of no less than twenty million barrels within the last year.
It was also stated that companies must also have a signed statement “confirming that the company does not have any director who has been convicted in any country for a criminal offence relating to fraud or any financial impropriety or criminal misrepresentation or falsification of facts relating to any matter or any pending litigation the bidder may or may not have, among other key requirements.”
The contract period is likely to begin sometime this year.
The government had announced in mid-September that it was looking for marketers of oil from the Liza- 1 and Liza-2 platforms.
The companies and their respective bids are shown in the table below. Some bids did not indicate the price to be charged. One bid showed two different figures for the same lot.
