Almost four years later... Only one of 14 oil blocks auctioned by Govt. sees progress

(Kaieteur News) – Guyana has so far managed to sign just two Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) for two of the 14 oil blocks it auctioned in December 2022, but just one company to date has paid the signing bonus to advance exploration activities.

Launched by President Irfaan Ali, the country’s inaugural bid round was deemed a success as eight of the 14 blocks received offers from 14 companies.

Eleven of the oil blocks auctioned are located in the shallow area and three are in the deepwater zone. They range between 1000 square kilometres to 3000 square kilometres with the majority of them being close to 2000 square kilometres. The blocks are much smaller than the acreage awarded to ExxonMobil which initially covered 26,800 square kilometers. Not only that but the government drafted a new oil contract to govern these blocks which stakeholders argued would not offer a level playing field in the country’s blossoming petroleum sector.