Guyana to set aside oil blocks for govt-to-govt “partnership”

Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 October 2022, 16:29 by Denis Chabrol

Even as Guyana prepares to auction oil blocks for the first time, President Irfaan Ali on Tuesday announced that a number of acreages would be kept by the government for joint work with other countries.

“I think very soon we are going to move to the auctioning of some blocks and we have some blocks that are set aside for what is termed government-to-government partnership and we are looking at all our strategic partners for these blocks,” he told a news conference that he shared with United Kingdom High Commissioner Jane Miller at her residence.

He did not name any specific countries, but due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the United Kingdom, United States and India have been increasingly turning to Guyana to source its high quality, low carbon crude that is being produced in the prolific Stabroek Block by an ExxonMobil-led consortium.

Noting that Barbados recently set aside a number of blocks for government-to-government partnerships, he declined to disclose details of the plan. “That is something that is part of the policy mix now. The distillation of the policy mix would occur in the coming days,” he said.

The President also said that more opportunities would be “opened up” in Guyana’s yet to be completed national gas strategy. He said Guyana and the United Kingdom have already had “specific discussion on how we could integrate and to encourage the UK government and private sector to be part of the energy transformation for Guyana.”

Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago are part of an energy security working group with the United States under the auspices of the Summit of the Americas. “When it comes to energy security, Guyana must be a top tier country,” he said.

Guyana is an emerging major oil and gas producer with projections of the South American nation producing almost 1 million barrels per day.