Guyana plans to sign deals to issue two more offshore blocks to explorers before the end of the year, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat said on Tuesday, following the issuance of a shallow water block to a TotalEnergies-led group.
The country earlier in the day signed a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the shallow-water Block S4 with a consortium of TotalEnergies, Malaysia’s Petronas, and Qatar Energy, marking the first contract issued under Guyana’s first competitive licensing round for offshore blocks.
The agreement with the consortium carries a US$15 million signing bonus. It includes tougher fiscal terms that would give Guyana a 27.5% share of initial production, plus a 10% corporate tax if it makes and develops a commercial discovery.
Bharrat said negotiations continue with other bidders from the round, adding that the government hopes to conclude at least two more contracts before year-end. “Those are the ones that we are actively negotiating with presently,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the signing ceremony.
He added, “It also depends on the ability of those awardees to secure their signing bonus, which must be paid upon signing, and the ability to execute their work program as well. If we are satisfied that these companies can do that, then we will move ahead with the signing.”
Among the groups still in talks is Sispro Inc., a Guyanese firm that had been earmarked for one shallow-water and one deepwater block. Bharrat said the government is hoping to finalize at least one of Sispro’s contracts soon, with advanced negotiations underway for the shallow water block called S3.
Guyana concluded its first offshore licensing round in 2023 as part of efforts to diversify its petroleum sector which is currently dominated by the ExxonMobil-led consortium operating at the Stabroek Block.
The government had initially planned to award four contracts under the round in October, but Tuesday’s signing marked the first and only PSA to be finalized so far.
