Guyana Oil and Gas News

The passage of Local Content Legislation and adoption of a Local Content Policy to guide the development of local businesses in the Oil and Gas Industry were among several recommendations made by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) for the 2019 national budget.

Three weeks ago, Trinidad and Venezuela reached an agreement on the supply of gas from the latter’s Dragon Field through the creation of a 17km undersea pipeline that will link it to the National Gas Company of Trinidad’s offshore Hibiscus Platform.

Introduction Today’s column starts with a wrap-up of the discussion on intergenerational equity.

President David Granger has said the proposed disbursement of cash transfers from oil revenues would not be discussed at Cabinet until recommendations are made on the issue by the new Department of Energy.

With the pace of progress towards preparations for oil and gas recovery accelerating, heightened emphasis is being placed on equipping Guyanese with aspects of the training necessary for them to be part of the historic experience.

Overview With the fast approaching date for ‘first oil”, our local content policy, still to be announced, is urgently required.

Introduction It has been over one month since the Ministry of Finance tabled in the National Assembly a fifty-one page document which it claims presents “preliminary proposals” to stimulate discussion on its plan for managing the flows from petroleum operations following first oil estimated to flow by the end of the first quarter of 2020.

President David Granger says the Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Sector Cooperation to be signed between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago is not a secret document and he will ask that it be made public.

LONDON,  (Reuters) Total says has exercised option to buy a 25 pct interest in Orinduik exploration block offshore Guyana.

Twenty-four men last evening, graduated from the TOTALTEC Academy with certificates that equip them to join Guyana’s emerging oil and gas industry.

Government yesterday met with visiting ExxonMobil  Vice President, Mike Cousins and made a pitch for a partnership in improving technical and vocational skills of youth with the aim of lowering unemployment rates among the group, Minister of State Joseph Harmon says.

As it prepares to drill its first well in its offshore Orinduik Block in the last quarter of 2019, Eco Atlantic yesterday said that an independent technical report on its hydrocarbon assets estimates that there is nearly three billion barrels of oil in the block.

The closure of the Trinidadian refinery, Petrotrin has left members of CARICOM, including Guyana, scrambling to find fuel suppliers from outside the region.

Guyana should sell its crude oil for refining at the best market price and whatever is in its best interest says Dr Thackwray “Dax” Driver, Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).  

Tapping into the emerging oil and gas sector, gold magnate Nazar ‘Shell’ Mohamed has made a  big investment in a storage facility at Mc Doom on the East Bank of Demerara which is expected to serve ExxonMobil’s current offshore works.

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce  and Industry (GGCI) will be looking carefully at the Green Paper on the proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF)  as it has found a lot of “leakages from the start to end”, its President Deodat Indar says.

In the wake of the stark duplicity and opaqueness that has characterised the APNU+AFC government’s handling of the nascent oil and gas sector, the public has been awaiting a clear sign from the administration that transparency and full engagement with all stakeholders will be its mantra.

ExxonMobil says it will be cooperating with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) in the ongoing audit of its US$460 million pre-contract and cost recovery charges even as the company projects that the Liza-1 oil well development alone will cost approximately US$4.4 billion.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Energy Sector Cooperation between the governments of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, paving the way for cooperation in oil and gas between the two states, will proceed as planned next week, despite a call by the city chamber of commerce for it to be put on hold.

Former presidential advisor Jan Mangal has warned that while cash payouts from oil revenue may have an important role to play in the future, at this point it could be a distraction from the larger goal of clawing back wealth.