Investors eyeing Takutu Basin for oil exploration
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat

HAVING unmasked Guyana’s offshore potential for oil and gas activities, investors are now turning their eyes to the possibilities that exist onshore in Guyana’s Takutu Basin, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

In 1982, the Karanambo-1 well in the Takutu Basin was drilled by Home Oil Inc., and tests conducted confirmed that oil of good quality was found. However, the commercial future of the find did not materialise.

Map showing the Takutu Basin onshore Guyana (OilNOW photo)

“Due to the infrastructure at the time and the lack of the type of equipment that we have today, exploration activities were halted at that time. There has been interests recently on the Takutu Basin, which is something that our government is discussing presently [with respect to] how we move forward with that along with the other blocks offshore,” Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat said during his address to stakeholders on day two of the International Energy Conference and Expo at the Marriott Hotel.

It was reported, recently, that ExxonMobil started production at Guyana’s second offshore oil development on the Stabroek Block, Liza Phase Two, bringing the total production capacity to more than 340,000 barrels per day in only seven years since the country’s first discovery.
In January, ExxonMobil had reported two new oil finds, which added to the over 10 billion oil equivalent barrels that exist within the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana.

The latest finds at the Fangtooth and Lau Lau wells bring the total discoveries within the Stabroek Block to 28.
Just Tuesday, Chairman of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, said Guyana accounts for more than 11 per cent of the world’s oil finds since 2015.

He described the progress in local oil and gas sector as “unmatched success,” noting that this success could even be greater in the near future since parts of the local basin remain unexplored, and are still considered frontier locations.

DON’T MISS THE BOAT
As Guyana continues to be recognised for its major opportunities for investments, Minister Bharrat has advised local investors to “be opened” to the idea of partnerships within the oil and gas sector to ensure that they benefit from the vast opportunities available here.

Minister Bharrat told the gathering that, while the budding oil and gas sector has seen some level of healthy competition, local investors should take advantage of the opportunities for partnerships which would greatly benefit their operations.

“Our local private sector and Guyanese are very competitive in nature, but I want to tell the private sector that we need to start looking at each other as partners and not as competitors, if we continue to do so the ship might set sail without us,” Minister Bharrat said.

He related that one of the major obstacles faced by local businesses is access to large funding, but he advised stakeholders to join forces, pool together their resources and capitalise on the opportunities that exist.

Speaking on the newly enacted local content legislation, Minister Bharrat reiterated that the government has designed the legislation to benefit locals while, at the same, not dis-incentivizing foreign investors.

“We need foreign investment in Guyana. One of our major problems in Guyana is access to capital, so we need foreign investment in our country, but all we are saying is the local content legislation is there to help our people benefit or gain somewhere or the other from the oil and gas sector through the investments that are coming into our country,” Minister Bharrat said.

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