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Jagdeo offers more information

on plans for unassigned blocks

GUYANA’S Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo pros and cons of both approaches, the vice pres-
offered some additional details about the gov- ident said. With the NOC model, for example,
ernment’s plans for unassigned exploration officials in Georgetown are already aware of
blocks during a press conference on April 29. the challenges they are likely to encounter in
Speaking to reporters in Georgetown, Jagdeo securing financing for a state-run entity tasked
acknowledged that Guyana’s government was with managing 100% of the country’s remaining
slated to announce in September whether it unassigned onshore and offshore acreage, even
intended to establish a new national oil com- if it could find a strategic investor. The spread of
pany (NOC) to manage these blocks or hold net-zero emissions commitments has made this
a new round of auctions to offer the assets to very difficult, he explained.
international oil companies (IOCs). The Inter- “The mood now is [that] NOCs have diffi-
national Monetary Fund (IMF) has already culties in raising funds. I was in Ghana, and they
communicated that it does not favour the NOC told me of the difficult time they were having
plan and believes there is not a good business with their NOC [and] going to the market to
case for this option, he said. raise funds because of the position of the devel-
He also stressed, though, that Georgetown oped world,” he said. “So we recognise that is an
did not intend to make any decisions purely on issue, and we now have to find a balance.”
the basis of recommendations from one party. At the same time, though, the other option
Guyana’s government has co-operated with the also involves making choices and changes. If
IMF for a long time and values its advice, but Guyana makes unassigned blocks available
the IMF does not set Guyana’s policy agenda, he to IOCs, he explained, it will not do so in the
asserted. same way it did in the past. It will auction sites
“Often, the IMF doesn’t look out for our peo- off competitively rather than pursue deals with
ple. And I will make this clear: The IMF has a individual companies, he stated.
different mandate. They were set up, designed Georgetown has not yet decided whether
as an institution to deal with balance of pay- the blocks will be auctioned off as is, or after a
ment problems around the world,” he remarked. third-party seismic study, Jagdeo added. The
“They are not a development institution. They former route would be cheaper but might attract
don’t even have expertise in oil and gas. They are lower bids, he said. By contrast, the latter route
a macroeconomic type of organisation.” “means we would have to invest money in the
seismic studies and get the vessels in here and
NOC vs. auctions get the information and then put it to auction,”
The government has taken care to examine the he commented.

Block C is one of the unassigned offshore blocks that has drawn interest (Image: GO-Invest)

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 18 05•May•2022