Following the successful exploits of ExxonMobil and its partners, the presence of another American oil major, such as Chevron, in the development of Guyana’s oil sector will certainly be in the country’s favour, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge.
Greenidge’s position comes in wake of Chevron’s US$50 billion acquisition of Anadarko in a recent deal that will see the American conglomerate acquiring the licence for the Roraima block, offshore Guyana.
Speaking with Guyana Standard, Greenidge said, “From the point of view of exploitation of the resources, then obviously Chevron would be to our advantage. If you have a large and well-resourced corporation on the shelf, your chances of fruitful exploration and of the development of anything discovered is greater.”
He added, “Once Chevron acquires all the resources currently belonging to Anadarko and more importantly, the licences, it puts us at a more advantageous position since, in the last six years, I am not aware that Anadarko has done anything on the shelf with its concessions all because of the 2013 incident.”
In 2012, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation was granted an exploration licence for the Roraima block. In October 2013, while conducting a geophysical survey on behalf of Anadarko, the research vessel MV Teknik Perdana was ordered out of Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone by the Venezuelan Navy and escorted to the island of Margarita. The Research vessel had at least five US citizens onboard.
Following this incident, Anadarko halted operations in Guyana until July 2015. Greenidge deemed the move by the Venezuelan navy to be “illegal because those ships were not doing anything that warranted such action.”
Further to this, Greenidge said that Anadarko according to its contract, was supposed to stick to a drilling programme, the failure of which would result in penalties. He noted, however, that given the circumstances, a pardon would have been granted to the company. Greenidge said that that aspect is being handled by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
