Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources has issued a new Invitation for Bids (IFBs) from suitable firms to market the country’s oil entitlement from the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.
Bidders are asked to submit their tenders by August 3, 2021, to the Chairman of Guyana’s National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). Bids, according to the IFBs, should be valid until 120 days of the date of the bid opening.
A tender for crude marketing services was initially opened prior to the March 2, 2020, elections in Guyana and 19 companies were later shortlisted. After taking up office in August last year, the new government had moved to reopen the tender for marketing the country’s share of Liza crude.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo subsequently pointed out that the prequalification criteria for the tender that was inherited from the previous administration was ‘nonsensical’ since it allowed for the disqualification of companies with proven track records in marketing crude. Speaking at a press conference in February this year, he said the government was considering whether to change the prequalification criteria and invite the same companies to resubmit bids.
In June, the government through the Ministry of Natural Resources had announced that the payment for Guyana’s sixth oil lift was received and deposited into the Natural Resources Fund.
OilNOW reported earlier this week that Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) had become the first Indian Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) refiner to buy a tanker load of Liza Crude from Guyana.
Competitively priced Liza crude could become new supply source for India, says adviser
India, one of the world’s top three importers of oil, has expressed interest in buying Guyana’s Liza crude as part of a long-term deal with the Guyanese government. The country is interested in working with authorities as well as commercial entities to forge an agreement that would facilitate these sales. India’s oil and gas demand is expected to increase nearly 3-fold from 229 million metric tonnes in 2018 to 607 million metric tonnes in 2040.
