GUYANA’S eighth oil consignment is slated to be lifted in November, according to Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, who confirmed that this next oil lift will also mark the fifth for this year.

On Tuesday, the Guyana Chronicle reported that because of the continued rise in global oil prices, the country’s petroleum revenues will remain on an upward trajectory, with the country’s eighth oil lift positioned to rake in close to US$80 million.

At the time of that report, the price for brent crude was pegged at approximately $79.24 – its highest since October 2018. However, that figure has dropped slightly to $78.72 per barrel, as at Tuesday.

Should this remain the case during Guyana’s November oil sale, the country would earn some $78,720,000, which would be less than revenues garnered from the seventh oil lift that valued US$79,617,561.87, and marked the largest single oil payment the country has received to date.

In a statement issued then, Minister Bharrat said that the seventh payment was for 1,047,820 barrels of oil, which was extracted from the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel on July 3, 2021. The seventh oil lift brought the country’s oil extractions to a grand total of 7,056,262 barrels, and earnings to US$436 million

Guyana sold its first one million barrels of crude on February 19, 2020, raking in nearly US$55 million. In its second million-barrel sale, the country received US$35 million, and another US$46 million as proceeds from the sale of its third million-barrel of crude, and US$49.3 million from its fourth oil lift.

In early March, Guyana also received US$61,090,968 (approximately G$13 billion) from the sale of the nation’s fifth oil lift. Further, it earned in excess of US$60 million from the sale of its sixth oil lift, and received US$13.9 million in royalties during the first quarter of this year.
It was reported, in May, that the country’s total revenue is expected to increase by 17 per cent, with earnings in the petroleum sector alone reaching well over US$500 million by the end of this year.

Even as global oil prices begin to fluctuate, ExxonMobil Guyana and its partners are moving ahead to begin their largest exploration campaign within the Guyana basin. This could see the country’s nine billion plus (barrels) oil finds doubling by 2025.

Since 2015, Guyana has had 22 oil discoveries, and with the country poised to gain far more within the coming years, Minister Bharrat related that the government’s approach is to “bring benefits from the sector to our people.”

Meanwhile, speaking last month at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) hosted in the United States, Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo, had recognised that because of the climate change imperative to decarbonise the world, it was also important that Guyana pursues an aggressive mission of “getting as much oil out of the ground as quickly as possible.”

The former President reasoned that Guyana has to maximise the benefit from the industry and use those benefits to change lives of every Guyanese.

“We don’t know how swiftly we’ll get to a decarbonised world, but we have to make use of this period when there is still demand to get as much as possible out of the ground and that is why we support the rapid pace of the industry, but it must be done safely,” he related.
On a local radio programme called, “Guyana’s oil and you,” Jagdeo had said, pointedly, that even with the environmental concerns relating to oil production, Guyana does not have the option of leaving the oil in the ground.

To this end, he said: “There are many people saying now that we should not be producing oil. We don’t have that option in Guyana. Our people badly need development and we have to make sure that we produce the oil and get as much development out of it for our people to invest long term in other sectors so that they can get wealthier and have a decent life.”

The former Head of State, who has been globally recognised for his efforts to fight against climate change, indicated the government’s intention to rely on the advice of experts to ensure that its decision to continue oil production was sound.

“We can’t shut down the industry as some people have been calling for. We are going to be driven by the technical expertise. The oil and gas industry will be vital to our future and we have to do it well,” he said.

“We have made it clear that we are going to try, as far as possible, to ensure that Guyanese benefit from these resources,” he reiterated.
The Dr. Irfaan Ali-led government has repeatedly pledged to utilise Guyana’s petroleum earnings to transform and modernise a number of non-oil sectors, more importantly, agriculture.

The President has also said, on multiple occasions, that all measures are being put in place to ensure that Guyana does not fall prey to the dreaded ‘Dutch Disease,’ which has severely affected many other countries that have been relying solely on their oil revenues.