A development plan for Guyana's seventh offshore oil project is expected early next year, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat said on Wednesday, and would bring the South American nation's total oil production to more than 1.4 million barrels per day.
The South American country has emerged as the fastest growing oil nation in the last decade, with more than 30 discoveries off its coast. A consortium led by Exxon Mobil is producing about 650,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) from three production platforms.
The group's latest discoveries slightly raised the country's total estimate of recoverable oil and gas in Guyana to 11.6 billion barrels, Bharrat said.
The official figure is up from the "more than 11 billion barrels" that has been used since 2022 by the Exxon-led consortium.
The seventh project, called Hammerhead, is projected to add up to 180,000 bpd of production capacity after it starts output in 2029.
"We have not received the field development plan as yet. That will probably be in the first quarter of 2025, and then we will conduct the necessary due diligence with the view of issuing the license once everything is okay," he said.
Winners of a 2023 offshore bidding round for offshore exploration and development blocks are reviewing a production sharing agreement with the intention of paying the signing bonuses and ink the contracts, he said. Bharrat did not say when the companies are expected to conclude their reviews.
INACTIVE LICENSE
A license that had been granted to Canada-incorporated firms CGX Energy and Frontera Energy to explore a promising offshore block in Guyana, Corentyne, has expired and no decision has been made to extend it.
"There is no license held by CGX presently. However, the matter is still at the cabinet level for further discussion," Bharrat said.
Guyana's Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo this year criticized the group, which has been unable to secure a financial partner for its Guyana projects, complicating its development plans.
Analysts and experts were expecting Corentyne to be the next block to be developed in Guyana, bringing much needed diversity to the country's industry, where all output is controlled by the Exxon group.
A separate license to Spain's Repsol for exploring the Kanuku block expired last year, with no renewal approved.
(Reuters - Reporting by Kemol King in Georgetown; additional reporting by Marianna Parraga; writing by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Josie Kao)