Guyana extends deadline for offshore blocks licensing

The Ministry of Natural Resources yesterday announced the extension of the Guyana 2022 Licensing Round’s bid submission deadline to July 15, 2023.

April 14, 2023 had been the original deadline for submissions when the licensing round was launched on December 9, 2022 for 14 offshore blocks.

A statement from the ministry said that the Industry feedback and the advanced pace of modernising the oil and gas regulatory framework underscore the extended bidding period for the nation’s first competitive offshore oil and gas licensing round.

“The Round, officially launched on December 9, 2022, continues to receive strong global interest and the government has benefited from insightful feedback during the consultation periods of the Indicative Terms and Guidelines and the draft model production sharing agreements (PSAs).

“Concurrently, the government recognises that the new era of oil and gas development, facilitated by this current and future rounds, must be governed by a modern regulatory framework and has been thoroughly moving the finalisation of the model PSA, as promised in this government’s manifesto, and the overhaul and strengthening of the 1986 Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act”, the statement said.

The statement added that the administration also recently concluded agreements with PGS Exploration (UK) Limited and CGG Data Services to reprocess additional 2D seismic data germane to the blocks for tender. Existing and prospective participants of the licensing round will benefit from the availability of further seismic data which can be licensed to better inform the bids submitted.