Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo confirmed today that the Natural Resources Ministry is still conducting its due diligence on the companies which submitted eligible bids in Guyana’s maiden oil blocks auction. He said the companies have been asked to supply additional information to inform the ongoing assessment of their financial strength.
“The information will come in by the end of this month, beyond which they will hopefully be able to conclude these arrangements…Remember I said to you that we assessed the proposals on the basis of a number of criteria…We have to now verify what were in those proposals before the final sign off,” the Vice President said.
The official added that it is important for authorities to ensure that the companies have the wherewithal to meet their obligations as well as to verify the source of funds.
Following the launch of the maiden auction in December 2022, Guyanese authorities revealed that Sispro Inc, a consortium led by four African-Guyanese women, made history by securing a shallow water block named S3 and a deepwater block titled D2.
TotalEnergies EP Guyana B.V., in partnership with Qatar Energy International E&P LLC and Petronas E&P Overseas SDN BHD, was approved for the shallow water block S4.
ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, Hess New Ventures Exploration Limited, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited secured the shallow water block S8.
International Group Investment Inc, from Nigeria, was eligible for two shallow water concessions, S5 and S10.
Additionally, Liberty Petroleum Corporation and Cybele Energy Limited, an American and Ghanaian partnership, were approved for the shallow water block S7.
Finally, Delcorp Incorporated, a Guyanese company, collaborated with Watad Energy and Communications Ltd and Arabian Drilling Company to secure the deepwater block D1.
Government has not yet disclosed the details of the bids submitted but pledged to do so after careful evaluation of those documents.
After signing their respective agreements, the companies will be expected to pay a 10 percent royalty and a 10 percent Corporate Tax. The cost recovery will be capped at 65 percent in a given year, while profits will be shared 50/50 between the parties. For shallow water blocks, companies have to pay a minimum signing bonus of US$10 million while a minimum of US$20 million is set for deep water concessions.
