Page 10 - LatAmOil Week 32 2021

LatAmOil GUYANA LatAmOil

During the second reading of the bill, Bhar- and Liza-2 sections of the Stabroek block used
rat explained that the government wanted to to generate electricity for the domestic market,
amend Section 52 of the Principal Act so that he said.
it could take measures to ensure that citizens Nandlall explained further that the gov-
whose lands are appropriated for such projects ernment was trying to arrange matters so that
are properly compensated. facilities for the GTP project could be built on
The amendment supports this goal by giving publicly-owned land to the greatest possible
the Natural Resources Ministry a wider scope extent. Georgetown does not want this initi-
to monitor the exercise of licensees’ rights over ative to interfere with private land ownership
privately-owned land, he asserted. Passing the but hopes that the amendment to the Principal
bill will help guard and strengthen the private Act will provide the necessary protection to all
property rights laid out in Guyana’s constitution, landowners affected by the construction of the
he added. pipeline, he said. ™
Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister
Anil Nandlall expanded on this point, saying
during the amendment’s second reading that
the government aimed to ensure that oil and gas
licensees followed the proper procedures for
appropriating land. The bill will guard the rights
of private property owners and will make certain
that compulsory land acquisition is carried out
in a lawful manner, he said.
Bharrat went on to say that Georgetown was
keen to see the bill passed in light of plans for
the development of onshore facilities that will
support and service offshore oil and gas devel-
opment operations. This includes the onshore
portion of the pipeline and processing plant that
will support a major gas-to-power (GTP) pro-
ject that will see associated gas from the Liza-1 Guyana is trying to use state-owned land for the GTP project (Image: ExxonMobil)

BRAZIL
Petrobras rep touts potential

of Foz do Amazonas basin

BRAZIL’S national oil company (NOC) Petro- drilling of 20 more offshore wells, including
bras has expressed optimism about plans for several wells in the frontier basin, he said.
exploring the Foz do Amazonas basin off These wells may show that the most prolific
the country’s northern coast, saying that this sections of the Guyana-Suriname basin actually
frontier province may hold huge reserves of extend into Brazilian waters, he added. “We have
hydrocarbons. blocks 30 km from the divide with Guyana and
According to Fernando Borges, Petrobras’ in the same trend as the discoveries in Guyana
director of exploration and production, Foz do and Suriname,” he said during the conference
Amazonas has the potential to hold as much call.
oil as Brazil’s prolific offshore pre-salt area. Petrobras has said it expects to spend $1bn
He noted, though, that the NOC had not yet on exploration work in Foz do Amazonas and
secured the green light for large-scale explora- the equatorial margin, which also includes the
tion programmes. Para-Maranhao, Barreirinhas and Potiguar
“We’re waiting for licences to explore the last basins off Brazil’s northern coast, between 2021
exploration frontier in Brazil in which we could and 2025. So far, though, it has not obtained any
find volumes similar to what we have in our sub- drilling licences for the Foz do Amazonas basin,
salt [zone],” he said during a conference call with where it has 100% stakes in six blocks.
investors last week. All of the blocks were originally assigned to
Borges noted that Petrobras had drawn up an joint ventures between Petrobras and BP (UK)
exploration drilling programme that included or TotalEnergies (France). However, the inter-
plans for work in the Foz do Amazonas basin. national oil companies (IOCs) have exited the
The company hopes to go forward with the projects.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 32 12•August•2021