Guyana President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has launched Guyana’s competitive bid round for 14 offshore oil blocks, comprised of eleven shallow water blocks and three ultra-deepwater blocks.

Officially open today, December 9^th 2022, the bid round is expected to be open for 4 months and will close on April 14^th 2023.

With the massive potential for “25 billion barrels”, President Ali outlined that evaluations of the proposals will take place and following an expedited negotiation period, awards of blocks are expected in Q2 2023.

Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat is expected to publish a notice in the Official Gazette in keeping with the Petroleum Act.

Guyana has seen extraordinary success with offshore discoveries in the last 5 years. The country continues to grow and expand the opportunities to increase production and the inflow of investment into the energy industry and other sectors. The largest upstream player to date has been Exxon, who produces more than 340,000 barrels of oil per day from two FPSOs. The company has had significant success in Guyana and indicates that additional FPSOs are already in development for future projects.

The government has made it clear in the past that the industry must be to the benefit of all Guyanese citizens. At the launch of the bid round, President Ali, stated, “We are hoping that there will be maximum participation and that Guyana would be part of a partnership that creates greater benefit and greater wins for our country and our people.”

Improved fiscal terms have been outlined that provide greater balance of the share of revenue between the government and contractor, while maintaining Guyana’s competitive edge in the region globally.

The International Energy Conference and Expo will take place from February 14-17 2023 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel. At the conference there will be keynote addresses by the leadership of the country including: His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana, Prime Minister Mark Anthony Phillips, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat.

At the conference we will also hear from senior experts in Guyana’s oil and gas sector, including John Hess, Chief Executive Officer, Hess and Alistair Routledge, President, ExxonMobil Guyana.

The third day of the International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana 2023 began with presentations from the Honourable, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Anthony Phillips, Prime Minister of Guyana; the Honourable Dr. Ashni K. Singh, Minister of Finance (Guyana); Professor Harrie Vrendenberg from the University of Calgary (virtual); Dr. Mahender Sharma, CEO of the Guyana Energy Agency; and Isaac Solomon, Vice President of the Caribbean Development Bank.

The Prime Minister of Guyana started with a recap of the week’s discussions before elaborating on the areas of growth that Guyana has seen in a socioeconomic and financial context for the past few years. He stated that the non-oil sector has increased by 11.5%, and that the oil revenue has increased Guyana’s GDP by 6.2%. The Prime Minister stated that the demand for energy on a national and global level will increase and double in forthcoming decades, and as such, Guyana needs to balance that demand through the use of flexible and reliable energy sources. He mentioned that there is a governmental goal to reduce the cost of electricity in Guyana by 50%, and this is being done through the employment of hydropower, solar and wind energy sources throughout the country. The Prime Minister then recapped most of the initiatives that have been taken to work towards a more sustainable Guyana.

Minister Ashni Singh offered a very thorough statistical recap of Guyana’s economic state, with a few comments on factors that would have impacted Guyana’s economic state, such as COVID19 and the Russian war on Ukraine. He stated that there is an overdependence on particular economic sectors, and thus is it of high importance for the country to continue achieving a strong non-oil economic growth. The Minister also proudly stated that over the past three years, the Guyanese economy has tripled in size. Guyana was also said to hold the third largest reserves in Latin America and the Caribbean. Minister Singh explained the function of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF); where all revenue earned from this sector can be deposited and only withdrawn in accordance with a transparent formula that is easy to interpret and free of political discretion or judgement.

Professor Harrie Vredenberg joined the conference virtually and shared his presentation on the topic of energy transition. He discussed areas such as climate change, the perspectives of environmental activists, and steps that a nation making an energy transition should consider. The professor concluded his presentation by discussing a documentary film that he has produced on energy transition in the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago.

Dr. Sharma from the Guyana Energy Agency provided a summary of the completed projects that the agency has worked on and those that are currently in the works, specifically the ones located in Region 9. There is a goal to make that area a renewable energy hub.

Isaac Solomon of the Caribbean Development Bank spoke of sustainability and the “resilience” required to boost the economies of Caribbean countries who produce renewable energy. He mentioned that energy security is currently a top priority, and that the main focus on the CDB’s energy sector strategy is to support the increased scale and pace of the transition across all member countries.

The fourth day of the Conference will be focused on the Youth Engagement Forum.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs, Global Energy and Clean Technology Conference, CEO of Hess Corporation John Hess stated that the official figure for crude oil production from Guyana is estimated to be 1.2 million barrels per day, an upward estimate from the previously reported 850,000 barrels per day. This steady production will be supported by six floating production vessels (FPSOs).

Hess, with partners Exxon and CNOOC, have had 30 major finds offshore Guyana, 9 of which have been in 2022. Presently, Guyana has two FPSOs in operation producing about 360,000 barrels per day.

Mr. Hess noted that based on the recent appraisal of the Fangtooth well, the company may require a dedicated production unit for itself which would be Guyana’s 7^th in total.

Emphatically stating that Hess projects in the region will lead to the betterment of all Guyanese, he referred to the recently signed carbon credits deal (click here to read more). and the gas to power project currently underway, which Mr. Hess anticipates will provide stable and low cost electricity for the country(click here to read more).

With such strong indicators of sustainability there remains an undeniable link between the energy sector and the development of Guyana’s infrastructure and services sector.

The International Energy Conference and Expo will take place from February 14 – 17 2023 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel. The theme for the conference in 2023 is Harnessing Energy For Development. Mr. John Hess, CEO of Hess Corporation will be speaking at the conference and delivering a feature address.