Guyana Oil and Gas News

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.

ExxonMobil today said that since 2015 it has spent $45.7b with local vendors and it currently has around 1900 Guyanese in its employ.

Guyana is entitled to five million barrels of oil in 2020 as part of its profit share with ExxonMobil and its partners in addition to the 2% royalty on all production, according to the Director of the Department of Energy, Dr Mark Bynoe.

According to Elections Commissioner Vincent Alexander, GECOM has received a request to approve proxy votes for the hundreds of Guyanese currently working on ExxonMobil’s  offshore oil platform.

The Global Witness report that shows Guyana has potentially lost US$55 billion from the oil deal with ExxonMobil would have been more effective if it was released after the March 2nd general elections as it could have been used to pressure whichever government wins in its dealings with the oil major, thus helping shape public policy.

Nearly two years after it was first proposed by the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a system of Direct Cash Transfers has found favour with the incumbent A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC). 

Dear Editor, The use of the term ‘bridging deed’ for what is essentially a new petroleum prospecting licence was initially puzzling until I examined the laws governing the sector.

Presidential hopefuls from five of the smaller new parties contesting the general and regional elections all have on the agenda the renegotiation of the oil contracts and the need for supporting other industries through revenues received from the oil & gas sector.

Anti-corruption watchdog group Global Witness has recommended that more effort be put into the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) investigation of the awarding of the licences for the offshore Kaieteur and Canje oil blocks, saying that key participants, including former Minister of Natural Resources Robert Persaud, have not been questioned about the process.

Acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire has declared that Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd (Hess) and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Ltd (Nexen), do not need separate environmental licenses to conduct oil production here since they are covered under the licence issued to ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (Esso).

The Civil Defence Commission yesterday hosted an oil spill tabletop exercise the aim of which was to test and develop Guyana’s oil response capability.

The third draw of crude oil in the Stabroek Block will be lifted early next week after government and ExxonMobil have settled on a value for the oil being extracted from the Liza field and this will go to Guyana.

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) yesterday emphasized that Article 21.1 of the Purchase Agreement between the Government of Guyana and Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEGPL) defines the tax relationship between the company and its sub-contractors.

OpenOil, the Germany-based consultancy which generated the analysis that suggested that the 2016 deal with ExxonMobil could deprive Guyana of US$55b, yesterday defended its work.

Government yesterday defended its decision on the 2016 renegotiation of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and partners, saying it was in Guyana’s best interest.