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New Guyana Oil Rules Could Delay Exxon’s Developments
The new government in the world’s newest oil producer, Guyana, looks to raise the requirement for local content in employment and procurement of goods and services in the offshore oil projects, which could raise those requirements for ExxonMobil, the biggest foreign developer of Guyana’s huge oil resources.
After months of election controversy, Guyana’s new President Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who were sworn in earlier this month, demand more from ExxonMobil on the so-called local content.
“We are sticking to our commitment in ensuring that the industry as far as possible, provide opportunities for not only the local private sector but Guyanese as a whole here and in the diaspora, wherever the skillset is,” Guyana’s President Ali told local media last week.
According to energy analyst David Blackmon, the new local content requirement, whatever it is, should strike a balance between the Guyanese government’s requirements and the need to ensure smooth work and tender and hiring for the offshore operators and contractors.
If Guyana fails to balance the local content requirements with the reality of its local skillset and goods and services procurement, it could potentially delay development projects led by foreign oil operators and contractors.
ExxonMobil revised upward its estimate of recoverable resources offshore Guyana by 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent to 8 billion oil-equivalent barrels, as it announced its 16th oil discovery on the Stabroek Block early this year.
The recoverable resource base of 8 billion oil-equivalent barrels includes the fifteen previous discoveries that ExxonMobil and its partners had made offshore Guyana until the end of 2019. The new discovery, at the Uaru well, is just 10 miles northeast of the Liza oilfield, which is already producing oil.
Guyana officially joined the ranks of oil producing nations at the end of December 2019, after Exxon and its partners began oil production offshore the South American country.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
About the author
Guyana Diaspora Forum
We have a large database of Guyanese worldwide. Most of our readers are in the USA, Canada, and the UK. Our Blog and Newsletter would not only carry articles and videos on Guyana, but also other articles on a wide range of subjects that may be of interest to our readers in over 200 countries, many of them non-Guyanese We hope that you like our selections.
It is estimated that over one million Guyanese, when counting their dependents, live outside of Guyana. This exceeds the population of Guyana, which is now about 750,000. Many left early in the 50’s and 60’s while others went with the next wave in the 70’s and 80’s. The latest wave left over the last 20 years. This outflow of Guyanese, therefore, covers some three generations. This outflow still continues today, where over 80 % of U.G. graduates now leave after graduating. We hope this changes, and soon.
Guyanese, like most others, try to keep their culture and pass it on to their children and grandchildren. The problem has been that many Guyanese have not looked back, or if they did it was only fleetingly. This means that the younger generations and those who left at an early age know very little about Guyana since many have not visited the country. Also, if they do get information about Guyana, it is usually negative and thus the cycle of non-interest is cultivated.
This Guyana Diaspora Online Forum , along with its monthly newsletter, aims at bringing Guyanese together to support positive news, increase travel and tourism in Guyana and, in general, foster the birth of a new Guyana, which has already begun notwithstanding the negative news that grabs the headlines. As the editor and manager of the publication, I am committed to delivering Blog entries and Newsletters that are politically balanced, and focused on the positive ideas we wish to share and foster among Guyanese.
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