The flurry of activity in Guyana’s prolific Stabroek Block and more recently, the Corentyne Block has sparked renewed interest in the onshore Takatu Basin, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat disclosed on Wednesday.
Explorers have had an interest in Guyana’s Takatu Basin, located in the southern part of the country approximately 480 km (300 miles) from the coast, for several decades. The basin extends westward into Brazil and separates Guyana’s Northern and Southern Geological Province.
Wells drilled in the basin include Lethem-1 (1980), Karanambo-1 (1982), Turantsink-1 (1992), and Apoteri K2 (2011), all of which had unfavorable outcomes, according to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
Mr. Bharrat explained during his address at the International Energy Conference that those drilling campaigns did not have the advanced technology used today.
Now, with the technology in place and advancing rapidly, he believes this may also be a contributing factor to the renewed interest.
“…this is something our government is discussing presently along with how we move forward with the other blocks offshore,” he added. The way forward could include using them to form a National Oil Company (NOC) as was recently hinted, or auctioning off the oil blocks.
Last year, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo had announced that the government is looking to auction some of its prime oil blocks to international oil companies by the third quarter of 2022.
But in order to successfully auction off these blocks, the government first has to “aggressively enforce” the relinquishment provisions in the oil contracts.
For context, relinquishment sees the contractor surrendering to the State all or part of the block they have been operating on, but only after the first, second and third renewal periods of its contract have expired.
