Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has said that the Government of Guyana (GoG) will not be reviewing ExxonMobil’s plans for its seventh project in the Stabroek Block, Hammerhead, until it receives a complete submission from the company.
This statement was made during Jagdeo’s most recent press conference, when he addressed questions on whether the government had changed its position on the Hammerhead project.
The Vice President had previously stated that there is no guarantee that there will be a seventh project. However, on October 7, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) for suitable consultancy firms to conduct a review of the Hammerhead Field Development Plan.
Jagdeo explained that he made the decision to halt the hiring process. “So, the original position stands. When I saw that ad, it was brought to my attention, I called the minister and said discontinue it,” Jagdeo said.
Giving his reason, the Vice President explained that until government has a full submission from Exxon, the review process will not commence.
“I expect them to make a full submission sometime next year so why are we hiring a company now to start reviewing pieces of information that they are giving to us…So there will be no consultant hired to review the project until we have the entire submission,” he added.
Exxon has received approval for six projects in the Stabroek Block to date, with three currently in the production stage. The daily output stands at 650,000 barrels of oil.
Hammerhead’s production phase is slated to commence by 2029 and will utilize a Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, specially designed to handle the extraction and processing of hydrocarbons efficiently. The FPSO vessel will have a capacity ranging between 120,000 to 180,000 barrels per day, with storage capabilities of approximately 1.4 to 2 million barrels.
