– Divisional Manager
GUYANA Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Petroleum Division Manager, Mr. Newell Dennison said, Wednesday, they will continue to foster partnerships in an effort to advance developments in exploration.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Natural Resources, he said new venturers in the field include Shell Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Tullow Oil B.V., Repsol Explorations S. A. and Canacol Energy Limited.
In addition, he said the Division’s advance is based on the fact that a discovery is expected sooner rather than later.
Dennison pointed out that Guyana has the experiences of Canada, Trinidad, Suriname and Brazil to guide its move forward.
However, he said, although capacity building is constrained by skills shortage, the Division’s vision is to thrust Guyana into the realm of petroleum production and associated industry for prosperity and progress.
In that context, Dennison said their work programme caters for drilling to basement in the North West District, where the objective is to acquire discovery evidence of petroliferous occurrences in the basin fringe.
Another area of focus is data capture, he informed the parliamentarians, stating that, to date, seismic sections have been scanned, geophysical logs digitalised, reports scrutinised and well profiles are being created with annotated digital images, among others.
Dennison said the companies engaged in exploring for natural resources, up to now, include Esso, Petroleum Geo-Service, CGX Energy Incorporated, ON Energy Inc. and Takutu Oil and Gas Inc.
He said, currently, several things are needed, ranging from a policy framework to having known mechanisms that can be applied in different situations.

ESSENTIAL

Dennison said the former is essential and operations are being done on a first come first serve basis.
He explained that his division’s approach has been that the Government’s imperatives should permit reasonable regard for a possible successful outcome that company methods can provide.
This, according to him, has to be balanced with known company practices, for example, taking inventory while optimising financial gain.
Dennison said, too, that known mechanisms can address situations where they apply and he was optimistic about the sector’s advancement.
He said the mission of the Petroleum Division is to:
* explore for and produce petroleum for associated industry development;
* regulate and monitor petroleum operations to ensure legislative compliance;
* encourage application of best practices in petroleum and associated industry practices;
* manage the transfer of technology for maximum benefit to the sector;
* provide the sector with timely and pertinent information, so as to contribute to its efficiency and competitiveness and
* sustain, for the heritage of mankind, a safe environment around petroleum operations.
Meanwhile, assessments, by United States (U.S.) geological surveys, of the Guyana Basin revealed that the potential for oil discovery is very high, given that the location is the second most prospective under-explored area worldwide.