GUYANA has received US$46 million as proceeds from the sale of its third million-barrel of crude, taking the country’s total earnings from the oil-and-gas sector to over US$140 million.

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat told the Guyana Chronicle that the Bank of Guyana confirmed Guyana’s receipt of US$46,046,937, which was deposited in the country’s Natural Resources Fund (NRF) at a US Federal Bank.

Guyana, new to the oil-and-gas sector, sold its first million-barrel of crude on February 19, 2020, raking in nearly US$55M. In its second million-barrel sale, the country received US$35M. Along with the new deposit and the US$4.9M in royalties received from first-quarter gross production and interest, Guyana has over US$140M in its NRF.

It was reported that the country could expect its fourth shipment of crude in November 2020, as the Ministry of Natural Resources is working to secure a suitable firm to market Guyana’s crude by October.

Recently, the government decided to re-tender the Request For Proposal (RFP) for companies to market Guyana’s crude, with the aim of correcting bids made under the then “illegal” APNU+AFC Government. Previously, 34 large oil traders had submitted proposals, and 19 were shortlisted. It is likely that many of these companies or more will re-submit proposals.

“We’re trying to wrap up this process sometime early October; the process of selecting the company, because the next lift will be some time in November. So we need to give the company some time to be ready,” Minister Bharrat said.

Guyana is entitled to five crude cargoes for this year, as part of its profit share with ExxonMobil and its Joint-Venture (JV) partners. This means that with Shell having received its three cargoes, the country can market its crude to another company or location.

This will be in addition to a two per cent royalty on all crude produced at the Liza Phase 1 Development; 12.5 per cent profit oil; withholding taxes; foreign direct investments and benefits from JV initiatives, employment and jobs for service suppliers.

As ExxonMobil liquidates its costs, by 2025, 50 per cent of all Guyana’s oil sold will come to Guyana, rising up to 52 per cent return on every barrel of oil sold.