Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources has shortlisted seven companies for consideration to conduct a seismic study offshore.
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, told reporters at an August 14 press conference that around eight companies submitted or expressed interest. “We have narrowed that down to seven, and very soon, we’ll go back to them for a firm proposal, and we will inform you,” he stated.
Exxon looking to acquire seafloor seismic services for Stabroek Block
The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) was due to receive the expressions of interest on June 20, but did not publish the names of the interested companies/groups.
The job is to acquire, process and interpret high-quality 3D seismic data to promote offshore development, including by making it available for evaluation during future bidding and licensing rounds.
Guyana held its first bid round in the 2022-2023 period without seismic data. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has said such data is expected to improve the attractiveness of Guyana’s offshore auction(s), as the country competes with other jurisdictions for investment dollars. In addition to pursuing a seismic study, the government also said it would conduct a review of internal data before hosting a second auction.
Given feedback from the first auction, the government may also be open to reviewing its offshore model petroleum agreements. Jagdeo said the terms are said to be “too robust” and while the government is open to certain changes, this does not apply to the fiscal terms. These include a 10% royalty, 65% cost recovery ceiling, 50-50 profit split, and 10% corporate tax.
