Guyana Oil and Gas News

The oil and gas industry is facing strong competition in attracting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent but almost half of the younger generation is interested in the industry, according to a survey released by ADNOC.

General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, Lincoln Lewis has called for measures to be put in place to ensure that citizens are not forced to work for crumbs in the oil and gas sector while foreigners benefit and suggested several amendments to the rules surrounding the functioning of the National Assembly.

Representatives of the majority-state-owned Brazilian oil company, Petrobras yesterday presented a five-year strategic plan for Guyana’s oil and gas industry, which includes technical assistance, export and import services and training, according to a statement from the Department of Public Information (DPI).

After months of intense negotiations on oil spill coverage and other insurance provisions, ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) was last week granted an environmental permit for its Liza Phase 2 project.

An Order to exempt Tullow Guyana BV and Eco (Atlantic) Guyana Inc from various taxes has been laid in the National Assembly.

ExxonMobil’s announcement a week ago that it had   made a new oil discovery offshore Guyana at the Yellowtail-1 well, marking the 13th discovery on the Stabroek Block, was not the only recent indication of the consolidation of its hold on the oil and gas sector in the hemisphere.

The interest of Guyanese businesses in the oil and gas sector is higher than anticipated, according to Director of the Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD) Patrick Henry, who says that of the 2,675 businesses registered with it over the past two years, 1,573 are local. 

ExxonMobil Guyana yesterday announced the installation of its first subsea tree for its Liza Phase 1 Development Project, offshore Guyana.

Guyana could see oil exploration activity in the ultra-deepwater region picking up pace in the near future with United States oil giant Chevron set to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp, which holds an exploration licence for the Roraima Block offshore Guyana.

The United States acknowledges that it is within Guyana’s sovereign right to renegotiate the controversial Production Sharing Agreement (PSA)  between the country and ExxonMobil and its partners if it so chooses, recently accredited US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch says.

Even as drilling exploration continues at its Yellowtail-1 site in the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana, ExxonMobil is undertaking an environmental baseline survey of the nearby Kaieteur Block.

The GAC Logistics and Shipping (Guyana) Incorporated was officially launched on Friday.

NABI/KCL Oilfield Construction Services Guyana yesterday announced that it has been awarded the contract to build the new office facilities of Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) at Ogle, East Coast Demerara.

The Government of Guyana on Friday received a US$20 million loan from the World Bank to support capacity building for Petroleum Resources Governance and Manage-ment.

Optimistic that it can deliver a skills transfer system in the provision of marine logistics services to equip locals to run its operations here, United States-based marine transportation company Harvey Gulf has set up an office in Guyana.

With plans to be in Guyana for several decades, ExxonMobil is forging ahead with plans for the construction of its local headquarters at Ogle, on the East Coast of Demerara.

When the APNU+AFC administration took office in 2015, its focus in the oil and gas sector was making preparations for production and not investigating the award of oil blocks by the previous government shortly before the elections, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman says.

The participation of indigenous peoples as it relates to the oil and gas sector has been extremely limited, Governance and Rights Coordinator at the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) Laura George said when the non-profit Moray House Trust convened a civil society panel discussion on Thursday.

The issuance of a permit to ExxonMobil for its Liza Phase 2 project has hit another snag as the US$2 billion+ coverage they have secured from a United Kingdom insurance firm does not meet local insurance requirements, according to sources close to the process.

Following its two most recent finds, ExxonMobil yesterday revised its estimated gross recoverable resource from the Stabroek Block to approximately 5.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels.