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ExxonMobil pressing Guyana to

approve third offshore oil project

THE US super-major ExxonMobil is reportedly way. We wanted to ensure we got quality work.
pressing the government of Guyana to green- So it’s still on course. It’s still ongoing. We’re hop-
light its plan for the development of a third sec- ing it will wrap up shortly.”
tion of the offshore Stabroek block. ExxonMobil, for its part, hopes to make
The company has already submitted its field a decision on whether to proceed with work
development plan (FDP) for the Payara project at Payara sometime in September. But it has
to Guyana’s new government, headed by Presi- warned that the project, which was initially due
dent Irfaan Ali. But officials in Georgetown said to come on stream in 2023, could be delayed.
in early August that it wanted the FDP, which The US company has discovered more than
was drawn up by the UK-based consultancy 8bn barrels of oil in recoverable resources at
Bayphase, to be reviewed further by a team of Stabroek, which it operates within the frame-
Canadian experts prior to approval. They also work of a consortium with Hess (US) and China
pledged that the review would be complete by National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC). Last
the end of August. December, the partners began extracting crude
ExxonMobil appears to be keen to keep to from Liza-1, the first phase of the Liza field at the
that schedule. “The timely approval of addi- block. Their next target is Liza-2, which is due to
tional proposed projects, including Payara, will begin production in 2022. ™
ensure that the local workforce and the utili-
sation of local suppliers will continue to grow,”
said the company’s new country head in Guy-
ana, Alistair Routledge, according to a Reuters
report.
Another slight delay
But Vikram Bharrat, Guyana’s new Minister of
Natural Resources, has revealed that George-
town needs a little more time. In an interview
with the Guyana Times published on August 30,
Bharrat said that the Canadian team – headed by
Allison Redford, the former prime minister of
Alberta Province – was still looking at the FDP.
“[Redford] is still working on the examina-
tion of the review done by Bayphase, and you
would understand that it’s not something we
want her to rush through ... So we are hoping
that she can wrap up sometime this week,” the
minister said.
He added: “She had asked for a little exten-
sion, which we were okay with. We didn’t want
to rush the process and compromise it in any Payara will be Stabroek’s third development area (Image: Eco-Atlantic Oil & Gas)

BRAZIL
Açu Petroleo files IPO plan

AÇU Petroleo, the operator of an offshore ter- Petroleo and both of its shareholders, Prumo
minal at the Brazilian port of Açu, intends to Logistica (Brazil) and Oiltanking (Germany). It
launch an initial public offering (IPO) of stock. also said it hoped the IPO would allow it to raise
The company unveiled the plan in a securi- some $2bn.
ties filing earlier this week, according to a Reu- Açu Petroleo is planning to carry out the sale
ters report. In the filing, it stated that the offering so that it can cover the cost of building additional
would consist of shares now owned by Açu infrastructure facilities to serve its terminal.

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 35 03•September•2020