The PPP/C government has paused negotiations with oil companies for oil blocks which featured in Guyana’s first licensing round launched in 2023. This was announced today by the party’s General Secretary and Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
Readers would recall that the government had awarded eight blocks to six bidders: TotalEnergies Consortium (with Qatar Energy and Petronas), Sispro Inc., International Group Investment Inc. and Montego Energy, Liberty Petroleum Corporation and Cybele Energy, ExxonMobil with Hess and CNOOC; and Delcorp Inc., Watad Energy, and Arabian Drillers.
Four companies—TotalEnergies Consortium, International Group Investment Inc., Cybele Energy Limited, and Delcorp Inc.—have accepted the terms of the new Production Sharing Agreement which demands a 10 percent royalty and a 10 percent payment of corporate tax.
During his press engagement at Freedom House today, Jagdeo said, “I doubt that we will sign any of those in the next maybe two or three months if they have not been signed yet. I think we should wait until after the elections to do that.”
During the presentation of the 2025 budget, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh had said that among the eight shortlisted blocks, three PSAs will be finalised and signed in the first half of 2025, while the remaining bidders are engaging Government with finalisation also expected this year.
Guyanese authorities had held the auction with the hopes of breaking ExxonMobil’s monopoly on the nation’s offshore oil acreage. Currently, ExxonMobil leads two consortiums which hold the largest concessions, the more valuable of them being the Stabroek Block.
