Government eyes serious investors as 14 oil blocks are placed on auction block

Weeks after the Government announced that the new model oil and gas Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) will see major changes, President Irfaan Ali this morning announced that fourteen (14) new oil blocks have been put up for auction. The oil blocks were expected to go up for auction next year.

“We had committed that the new blocks will be publicly auctioned. Today, fourteen such blocks would be placed on auction and we are hoping that the course of the submission of the bids would be on the 14^th of April 2023 and our timeline is to have contracts awarded by the end of May 2023,” the President announced.

The President said there will be a competitive negotiation and evaluation process from the bids received.

He noted that the aim is to ultimately have the best possible outcome for the country, having learnt a lesson from the Stabroek block and its production sharing agreement, which has been described as lopsided in favour of the oil company.

Though calls are mounting for the government to institute its new terms on ExxonMobil future discoveries in the Stabroek, the President today shrugged off those calls, reiterating that his government respects the sanctity of that contract.

For the fourteen oil blocks that have now been placed on the auction block, the government is looking for serious developers who will move quickly to get down to business.

“We will help to improve fiscal terms that provide a greater balance of the share of revenue between the government and contractor while maintaining Guyana’s competitive edge in the region and globally,” the President noted.

He said there will also be a strict relinquishing clause that could see companies being forced to relinquish the blocks if they fail at the development of the blocks.