ExxonMobil has relinquished 20% of the Canje Block, offshore Guyana, and Director of the Department of Energy Dr Mark Bynoe says some things will have to be put in place before reallocation.
At a news conference on Monday, Bynoe was asked by Stabroek News about relinquishment and what would happen as it relates to possible reallocation.
“The Canje Block, they have relinquished 20%… In terms of actual reallocation, the Department is keen to do a couple things before we get that in place,” Bynoe said.
He noted the need for a revised Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), which he noted is currently in the form of a best practice template, the need for legislative revisions and also a need to be more robust as it relates to decommissioning and how it fits in with local content.
Additionally, he explained that the Department is still seeking to recruit a firm to complete a 2D/3D multi-client seismic survey so that it would be able to provide packages to interested clients.
The survey is likely to take 11 months and when it is completed, he said, the Department will “go back to the market.”
“But let’s be clear: there are a multiplicity of very sizeable blocks out there that still require exploration. So is there an absolutely need for us to go to another licensing round now? I would say no,” he said.
Bynoe was also questioned on the long-delayed Petroleum Commission and he said that it is necessary for them to get the primary legislation in place, which goes back to revision and possibly repealing or replacing the 1986 Exploration and Production Act.
“Once that is in place, we will then be able to move rapidly in establishing other subsidiary entities, legislation and regulation. In the interim, what we are looking at is what has been best practice for the Petroleum Commission to be in place, what kind of structures we need to establish, what kind of units need to be there and what skillsets we need to be working with,” he said, while noting that the work currently surrounds setting up the organisational structure for the Commission to move forward.
The Petroleum Commission Bill is currently before a Special Select Committee of the National Assembly for review.
