Guyana Oil and Gas News

Pledging that local content will continue to be foremost in its future plans even as it builds “momentum,” US oil company ExxonMobil yesterday said that its local workforce has tripled since operations began in 2015 and that figure will increase as its projects ramp up.

Oil and gas support services company Halliburton wants to set up a liquid mud plant at Water Street and while the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the project doesn’t warrant an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), it will be monitoring adherence to structural requirements.

With over 2,000 local businesses registered and 70 of those securing joint ventures or other partnerships with international businesses, the Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD) is seeking ways for members to have easier access to finance.

With first oil on the horizon, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has lamented the fact that the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government is yet to provide feedback on and finalise the third draft of the national Local Content Policy that was released to the public some weeks ago for comments.

Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) yesterday announced that it has entered an oil and gas service joint venture partnership with Trinidadian company CWSL and their plans include the development of a “world-class” shore base facility.

Demerara Distillers Limited today announced that it had entered a joint venture partnership with Trinidadian company CWSL for the oil and gas sector which includes the development of a “world-class shore base facility”.

President David Granger yesterday told a visiting IDB team that Guyana must be prepared in the shortest possible time for the coming of first oil.

Advocating for the allocation of a “fair share” of the returns from the country’s oil and gas industry, bringing the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce (ECC) into the national business mainstream and aggressively promoting the ‘Cinderella County’ as a hotspot for tourism are among the key priorities of  Region Two businessman Roopan Ramotar who, last Sunday, was elected Chairman of the (ECC).

While the local response to this week’s disclosure that the British company Tullow Oil is now in the process of reassessing the commercial viability of its recent oil discoveries offshore Guyana has been relatively muted, not so that of the wider international community including those constituencies with vested interests in the well-being of the company.

Today’s column highlights a few issues raised by Mr. Raphael Trotman, then Minister of Natural Resources who appeared before the Natural Resources Committee of the National Assembly on May 18, 2018.

While underscoring that its two finds so far offshore Guyana were heavy crude oil and it will now have to assess the viability of the project, the United Kingdom-based Tullow Oil has assured that it is not thinking of leaving.

UK explorer Tullow today said that oil found in two offshore wells in Guyana was heavy crude and the company and its partners would have to assess the commercial viability of the project.

ExxonMobil will be training protected species observers as part of its plans to mitigate the environmental impact on marine life of its operations offshore and it is encouraging organisations to apply although it has already received about 100 applications for training.

With increased oil and gas activity necessitating the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working to identify sites around the country for the development of state-of-the art landfills while it prepares for closer scrutiny of ongoing operations.

The Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) plans to use any influence it gains at the March 2020 elections to force a renegotiation oil production contracts and to push for environmental protection initiatives.

The need for trained, local protected-species observers to monitor oil and gas activity on marine life was among the calls made when ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd (EEPGL), held the last of required stakeholder meetings for its Payara project yesterday.

Having already soaked up a slew of international criticism over what is characterised as its healthy contribution to oil-related climate degradation, ExxonMobil, one of the world’s most powerful energy giants, was on Wednesday October 30, compelled to endure the sight and sounds of one of its most high-profile former bosses conceding that its longstanding posture notwithstanding, the company knew the climate change was not just a reality but that it was a real issue.

So, the first oil to be extracted from Guyana’s bountiful wells in the Stabroek Block will be divvied up between ExxonMobil and its two partners Hess and CNOOC.

ExxonMobil will take the first three liftings of crude oil from the country’s huge offshore deposits and Guyana will receive its share in its ground-breaking petroleum endeavour beginning around March next year.

The procurement process for a firm to audit the more than US$960 million ExxonMobil said it racked up in pre-contract costs here is nearly completed, Director of the Department of Energy Dr Mark Bynoe says.