For the first payment for its oil share for 2023 from the agreement with ExxonMobil and partners in the Stabroek Block, Guyana received US$82.25M which will be added to the already US$1.3B in the Natural Resource Fund, held in a New York Federal Reserve Bank account.
It is also the first 2023 sale by multinational oil company British Petroleum (BP) which had from December 2022 been charged with marketing Guyana’s oil from both platforms for one year, having won a tender where it gets no commission on sales.
Stabroek News had in January reported that with oil averaging around US$79 per barrel in December, this country earned US$83 per barrel on its last lift for 2022 and had received roughly US$82.6M.
Monies in the NRF are likely to rapidly increase throughout this year as there are now two floating production storage and offloading (FPSOs) units operating in the offshore Stabroek Block; the Liza Destiny producing over 120,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day and the Liza Unity at 220,000 BOE per day. A third platform is also expected to begin producing later this year and ahead of schedule.
British Petroleum’s contract will be for twelve months at a marketing price of US$0.00 per barrel and it followed the expiration of the contract with Aramco Trading Limited of Saudi Arabia.
Government, by way of a press release, had announced BP’s contract and had listed the services to be provided by the marketer. These included the following: provide support and guidance to the Government of Guyana in all operating and back-office responsibilities of managing the crude sales and each individual lift whilst facilitating timely and cost-effective crude operations; support the government in the continued introduction of the grade to multiple geographies and refinery systems, and provide benchmark and performance comparisons of prices paid for Guyana’s crude; work closely with the government to understand the behaviour and yields of the Liza blend and how these can affect pricing differentials.
“The Guyana Government will continue to employ transparent and international best practices in the management of the nation’s petroleum resources so as to attain maximum returns and advance the livelihoods of all citizens,” the release had stated.
Government, through the Bank of Guyana and Ministry of Finance gives a monthly and quarterly report of all oil revenues deposited into the NRF.
Last May, it had made its first notification of receipts from proceeds as per the Natural Resource Fund Act which came into effect on December 31, 2021, by way of the Official Gazette.
The NRF closed at February 2023 at US$1,379,353,505.59.
