Page 7 - LatAmOil Week 50 2022

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Three of the 14 blocks are ultra-deepwater sites within Area C (Image: OilNOW.gy)

Ali went on to say that Georgetown would be There will be a set of incentives in place for
offering the winners of the auctions the chance companies to remain involved, as well as disin-
to negotiate contracts under the new produc- centives for withdrawal and neglect, he contin-
tion-sharing agreement (PSA) model, which ued. “Strong contractual commitments are in
aims to establish and maintain a fair balance place for this bidding round [with] strong relin-
between the interests of the investor and the quishment obligations,” he remarked.
interests of the host country. This equilibrium According to previous reports, Guyana’s
will hinge partly on ensuring that investors licensing round includes three ultra-deepwater
uphold their exploration and development blocks from the offshore zone known as Area
commitments rather than simply shelving or C, as well as 11 shallow-water blocks. George-
hoarding idle assets, he said. town has said it will award 10-year deals for
“We understand the direction in which the the deepwater sites and five-year deals for the
world is going,” he said. “So it’s very important shallow-water sites. Licence-holders will be
for us to have developers who are serious, who expected to relinquish 50% of their acreage to
will in an expeditious way move towards a devel- the state at the end of their exploration periods
opment of the oil and gas resources.” unless they apply for production licences. ™

Payara project seen boosting

ExxonMobil’s capex in 2023

KATHRYN Mikells, the CFO of US-based company’s determination to launch production
ExxonMobil, indicated last week that plans for at Payara before the end of the year will be one of
accelerating the development of the Payara oil- the key factors pushing the figure into the higher
field offshore Guyana were expected to push the end of the range.
company’s capital expenditure budget into the “[We] have a pretty big incentive to try and
higher end of the predicted range of $20-25bn pull projects forward when we can. Payara in
next year. Guyana, I think, is a terrific example of that, and
Speaking during a webcast, Mikells referred it’s part of the reason that we’re at the higher end,
to the US-based super-major’s recent announce- you know, of that $20-25bn range coming up in
ment that it intended to spend more than 2023,” she said, according to a report from Oil-
$100bn between 2023 and 2027, or at least $20- NOW.gy.
25bn per year, on capex projects that would help Payara will be the third oilfield to come on
meet global energy demand. stream at the Stabroek block. ExxonMobil had
ExxonMobil is on track to invest $23-25bn said previously that it might start production
in capex initiatives in 2023, she said, and the there in early 2024.

Week 50 14•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7