-Trotman says legislation being crafted

AMIDST the increasing focus on ExxonMobil’s oil find offshore Guyana, 18 local and international companies have signalled expressions of interest in developing offshore oil and gas facilities.Making this disclosure was Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, during a media briefing yesterday at Cara Lodge.

The Guyana Chronicle had reported that the recent world-class off-shore oil discovery by ExxonMobil has firmly launched Guyana’s hydrocarbon industry. Guyana’s potential rests on the discovery of the Liza-1 and Liza-2 wells, located approximately 120 miles off our shores in 5,500 feet of water. First oil is anticipated on or before the year 2020.
According to the minister, International companies from Dubai, the U.S., United Kingdom (UK) and Asia, as well as locals such as Toolsie Persaud Ltd, John Fernandes Ltd and Muneshwer’s, will soon be presenting proposals to the ministry.
“Later this month we will be meeting with these companies which are interested in the establishment of an on-shore oil and gas facility…investors will be given an equal chance to present their proposals, given that we want to form a transparent private/public partnership,” iterated Trotman.
Potential partnerships, he said, will allow the Government to gain an equity, which will contribute to revenue earnings in a great way.
However, the Government is still in consultation with UK-based international affairs consultants, Chatham House to decide whether it would be feasible to establish a refinery.
He explained that they sought international assistance and guidance as to whether they need one, because preliminary studies have shown that the demand might be low due to the country’s population density and also the government’s commitment to renewable energy.
Thus, they intend to have a study completed and the report on its findings ready by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Government is in the process of preparing “seven-piece oil and gas legislation,” which will see the complete overhaul of the petroleum act as well as the establishment of a new petroleum commission.
Apart from that, they will also be addressing health, safety and the use of the revenue earned, so that they will have budget stabilisation, stressed the minister, while further indicating that they intend to take these bills to Parliament by April, 2017.
“In the meantime, we will be working to boost our human resource capacity in the oil and gas sector, by augmenting work with UG and UWI by giving financial support to the university to boost its oil and gas curriculum,” added the minister.
The ministry, he said, has also approached Repsol,and the Mexican and Chilean embassies to up the amount of scholarships offered to Guyanese.
In the interim, many Guyanese here and abroad have expressed their willingness to be engaged in the oil and gas sector, though they might not be able to receive pay at “first-rate prices.”
It was expressed that confidence is high in the success of the country’s oil and gas sector, given that professionals have declared 1.2 billion barrels of oil will generate US$72 billion. And based on the Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil, 50 percent of revenue will be used by the company to recoup its investment in the exploration, while the remaining half would be divided between the company and Guyana.
However, it was revealed that Exxon has been over the past few months faced with varying internal and external problems, hence the minister stressed that the company needs to find money fast and the earnings from Guyana would be ideal for their continued success.