As its maiden licensing round gets underway, Guyana’s Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo said the country could launch another as soon as next year to keep the momentum of its oil and gas development.
Dr. Jagdeo told Bloomberg on March 8 “We have a ton of decisions to make now so that we do not slow down the pace of development.”
The VP said, “the country has ample drilling locations” to justify another auction. So far, its discoveries have been centralised in a small portion of the 6.6 million acres Stabroek Block – close to 11 billion barrels oil-equivalent.
Some oil deposits have also been found in CGX Energy’s Wei-1 well in the Corentyne but this has not been quantified. Drilling operations are ongoing there. And it is the best bet for a development outside of the Stabroek Block.
Guyana aims to develop its oil and gas resources as quickly as it can before it fully transitions to renewable energy. It’s currently producing an average of 380,000 barrels per day from two developments – Liza 1 and Liza 2.
By the end of 2023, the next development, Payara, will come online, and then by 2024, another project, Yellowtail, will push production over 800,000 barrels per day.
Guyana currently has 14 blocks up for grabs; 11 in shallow waters and three from its deepwater acreage.
