GUYANA’S first lift of approximately one million barrels of oil is scheduled for early next week which will represent part of this country’s profit oil allocation of 12.5 per cent while the country will receive its 2 per cent royalty on gross production of all oil produced.

Director of the Department of Energy (DE), Dr. Mark Bynoe, confirmed same on Monday reminding that the monies from the sale of Guyana’s crude and its cash-based royalty will be deposited into the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Account being managed by the Bank of Guyana. To date, the Liza 1 field has produced over 2.7 million barrels of oil of which ExxonMobil has had its first two lifts. The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) witnessed the first two crude lifting exercises and have reported that “the lifts went very well”.

Dr Bynoe said that the Department has established a working relationship with the Guyana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GYEITI) and has committed to providing the GYEITI all the data and information required by the EITI Standard, with full observance of the Laws of Guyana. “The Department of Energy and the GYEITI has committed to continuing their collaboration to ensure that compliance, transparency and accountability are resident within the country’s burgeoning oil and gas sector for the benefit of the people of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana,” Dr. Bynoe said.

DEVELOPMENTS TAKING PLACE
Meanwhile, at the Liza 1 field, ExxonMobil has increased its resource estimate for the Stabroek Block to over 8 billion oil-equivalent barrels. Dr. Bynoe reported that efforts towards the construction of the Liza Unity Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) are progressing smoothly with its hull completed and sailed from Shanghai on December 2019.

Development drilling is projected to commence in February 2020 once the conditions of approval are met. For the time being, topsides fabrication is progressing; several trees/tubing heads have been completed, with the first two trees having been shipped to Trinidad from Brazil, with trees 3-8 expected to be shipped shortly. Installation vessels are undergoing preparations for start-up of first installation campaign aimed at March 2020 while the Operator is working with the DE to include Guyanese expertise in various stages of the Unity’s completion as per the Field Development Plan (FDP) approval.

Regarding the Payara FPD, the DE Director said that the procurement for recruiting the third party reviewer was completed in December 2019 and the FDP plan review has been progressing well. “The DE is aiming to be able to recommend a position to its Minister on the FDP by March 2020,” he stated.

INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING
In aims of ensuring efficient management of Guyana’s petroleum sector, the Department of Energy (DE) continues to administer contracts to industry specialists and has hired an additional 21 technical and administrative staff to meet the needs of its Department.

At a press conference on Monday, DE Director, Dr. Mark Bynoe, announced that the Department has contracted a Petroleum Development Management Specialist and a Natural Gas Specialist to provide expertise in the areas. They will add to the DE’s technical staff complement as well as its existing Crude Marketing Expert, Commercial Expert, Oil and Gas Expert, and Legal Expert. Negotiations are still ongoing for the procurement of a Petroleum Accounting Specialist and Contract Administration Specialist which will further assist the DE to reduce potential value leakage.

Apart from recruiting a contract management specialist, with assistance from the IDB, the DE has also completed a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) process mapping manual, which it will soon launch via an electronic platform for easier application and implementation. With the assistance of the IDB it has also completed its Functions Manual, Organizational structure, and budget and is now moving to implement some of the recommendations contained therein.