Guyana Oil and Gas News

Introduction Following up on last week’s column we have set out below a Table summarizing the Profit and Loss Statement of Mid-Atlantic for each of the years 2013 (part-year) to 2018 extracted from the company’s audited financial statements lodged with the Commercial Registry, a statutory obligation under the Companies Act.

The 2016 renegotiation of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between government and ExxonMobil’s subsidiary benefitted both sides, according to the company’s Country Manager Rod Henson, who said that the oil major did not “strong arm” anyone and warned of the impact on investment if changes to the agreement are sought.

Guyana has to ensure its oil and gas local content policy promotes robust oversight of the sector given the potential loopholes for corruption that have been evidenced in other developing countries, according to Canada-based University Professor and Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Advisor Dr.

State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) Special Assistant Eric Phillips has stated that accusations of conflict of interest levelled against him have “no substance to the claim.”

Four years after it made its first offshore oil discovery in Guyana, ExxonMobil says that it and its contractors have created almost 1,200 new jobs for locals with over 200 of those being held by women and spent some US$119.5 million (approximately $24.9 billion) on local procurement.

-company forging ahead with two more offshore oil projects Still on target for first oil in the first quarter of next year from its Liza 1 project, offshore Guyana, ExxonMobil is forging ahead with plans for two other offshore developments in the Stabroek Block that are expected to see Guyana receiving additional revenue as there will be increased production.

Introduction The Public and Government Affairs Advisor of ExxonMobil Ms. Janelle Persaud has disclosed to the press that its subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), has applied for its Petroleum Prospecting Licence for the Canje Block to be renewed.

Residents of Houston Gardens/Plantation Houston Estates and surrounding communities have expressed grave concern about a proposal by an oil services company to store large quantities of chemicals at Industrial Site, Ruimveldt.

The government can easily control the impact of the absence of ring-fencing provisions in the agreement with ExxonMobil’s subsidiary by attaching conditions in each Petroleum Production Licence issued, according to commentator Christopher Ram.

Tullow Oil and Gas of the United Kingdom yesterday announced that it had spud its first well in the offshore Orinduik Block on Thurs-day and results are expected next month.

Introduction This column has had an extensive rest – more than half the year while more and more of the defects and inadequacies of the infamous “ExxonMobil” Petroleum Agreement (PA) have been exposed.

An energy auditing and management training programme is currently underway at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre that is aimed to equip local businesses and entrepreneurs with the tools to optimise their energy usage.

Canadian oil company Frontera’s recent payment of a US$33 million signing bonus for a 33% working interest in two blocks offshore Guyana without any confirmed commercial quantities of oil, should signal to government how much it lost when it renegotiated its Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with ExxonMobil’s subsidiary in 2016 and got a mere US$18 million.

Minster of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman has absolved himself of any responsibility for not expressing sooner that the lack of ring-fencing provisions in the Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil’s subsidiary could negatively affect revenue earned by Guyana from the oil operations.

Pointing to what he said was a void in knowledge, a Houston, US-based Guyanese lawyer last week concluded a second oil and gas training conference and expressed disappointment at government’s disinterest in the forum.

ExxonMobil stood the expenses for Head of the Department of Energy Dr Mark Bynoe and First Lady Sandra Granger’s recent trip to Singapore for the commissioning of its Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, the Liza Destiny.

ExxonMobil’s “Liza Destiny,” the first oil production vessel that will be placed in Guyana’s waters, was yesterday officially dedicated by First Lady Sandra Granger at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore.

With ExxonMobil having found 12 operable wells in the offshore Stabroek Block, the Guyana government is concerned that the absence of a ring-fencing arrangement could negatively affect revenue earned from its explorations.

(This is the fifth in a series of articles by Transparency Institute Guyana Inc on the Production Sharing Agreement signed between the Government of Guyana and Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.)

As Guyana prepares for first oil early next year, British High Commissioner to Guyana Greg Quinn has urged politicians here to work together to ensure that the wealth garnered from the sector reaches all Guyanese in a tangible way.