The Ghana-based Cybele Energy is yet to pay its US$17 million signing bonus plus accrued interest into Guyana’s Natural Resources Fund (NRF), according to a well-placed source.
The source said a transfer into the NRF’s account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York would take at most three days to be deposited, but up to today (Monday) none had been received.
Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat on Monday was awaiting a response from his ministry’s legal expert.
The non-payment of the signing bonus is in stark contrast to Guyana’s expectation that Cybele would have deposited 30 percent of the signing bonus in the first week of June and the remainder in another six weeks.
Already, the company has racked up US$4 million in interest for failing to pay the signing bonus within 30 days of inking the petroleum exploration agreement on December 9, 2025.
On June 2, the Minister Bharrat had said that “failure to pay means that there is no obligation by the government to continue the agreement.”
He had said that the company risked losing the 2,000 square kilometer shallow water offshore concession.
