Guyana Oil and Gas News

The plummeting oil prices worldwide would see Guyana getting less than the expected US$300 million for this year but if the APNU+AFC government had negotiated for better royalties it would have cushioned the lost sums, says Dr Jan Mangal, the former Petroleum Advisor to President David Granger.

The Guyana Oil Company (Guyoil) has reduced the cost of fuel at the pumps but it is not enough to reflect the continuous decline of global oil prices says Change Guyana presidential candidate, Robert Badal, who is also calling on the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) to give reductions to customers.

Taking precautionary measures in light of the global spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), ExxonMobil has suspended construction of its local headquarters at Ogle, East Coast Demerara for now.

HOUSTON,  (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp is notifying contractors and vendors of planned near-term cuts in capital and operating expenses over a coronavirus pandemic, and will announce the plans once they are final, company spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry said yesterday.

Tullow has no immediate plans to continue drilling for oil here this year as it is still to further assess the results from three wells drilled last year, which the company has also written off.

The price per barrel of Guyana’s oil will be calculated using the Brent crude benchmark after the bill of lading for the cargo is issued and how information on the sales will be released is currently being determined, Director of the Department of Energy (DE) Dr Mark Bynoe says.

Guyana has been paid US$55 million for its first cargo of crude oil sold in February and the country will receive royalties from production by ExxonMobil in its Liza-1 field on the offshore Stabroek Block next month.

ExxonMobil is continuing to monitor the possible implications of the post-elections situation and the global coronavirus pandemic on its operations in Guyana.

HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil yesterday said it will make “significant” cuts to spending in the face of the unprecedented slide in oil prices due to the global coronavirus outbreak, which sent its shares to a 17-year low.

In light of Guyana’s recent general elections, a consortium of more than 100 environmental and human rights organisations and eminent persons from around the world have issued a statement calling on ExxonMobil and other oil companies to declare “unequivocally” that they will only conduct business with a lawfully installed government.

The Department of Energy (DE) has still not disclosed how much Guyana was paid per barrel (BBL) from its first crude oil cargo in February, while payment from royalty or sales has not been collected as yet. 

German non-profit environmental and human rights organisation Urgewald has criticised the World Bank’s decision to fund technical assistance for Guyana’s preparation for the oil and gas sector using a contractor whose clientele includes United States oil major ExxonMobil, the United Kingdom’s Guardian newspaper has reported.

From competence to controversy “Do You See Anything To Laugh About?”

Even as it awaits final approval for Payara, its third oil well development, ExxonMobil is pressing ahead with its fourth oil well project offshore at Hammerhead-1 as it aims to ramp up production.

Long-term consultant to the government Sir Shridath Ramphal has refused to discuss his role in the controversial Bridging Deed signed by government with ExxonMobil and its partners in 2016, for which he performed the role of Escrow Agent.

An employee from a Canadian human resource firm has alleged that in 2018 he was asked to pay “up to $50,000 USD per month” by a GDF officer working at the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP) to have his company’s name on ExxonMobil’s preferred list of suppliers.

Unsurprisingly, the future of Guyana’s traditional agricultural economy in the wake of the emergence of oil & gas and the fanciful futuristic dreams that have attended a projected economic explosion, has, up until now, attracted a great deal less than the level of public discourse that it perhaps merits.

Guyana yesterday invited expressions of interest to market its share of oil from the Stabroek Block offshore operations for 12 months.

Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran has said that the Global Witness report on Guyana has confirmed that the 2016 deal with ExxonMobil is overwhelmingly in its favour and should be renegotiated.

Foreign Secretary Carl Greenidge is threatening a US$1 million lawsuit against former presidential advisor Jan Mangal, unless he retracts statements and issues an apology for what he says are statements that impugn his integrity.