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Reuters confirmed this assertion after viewing major oil upgrading projects focused on the
documents covering four months of exports. production and storage of petcoke. The NOC
Between January to mid-September, the is implementing these projects, Petro San Felix
news agency reported, Venezuela exported a and Petrocedeno, partly in response to pressure
total of 2.19mn tonnes of oil byproducts, up from environmental groups and local commu-
from 1.75mn tonnes during the same period nities across Venezuela that are eager to get rid of
in 2021 and 1.03mn tonnes in 2020. It is esti- open-cast mountains of petcoke, which release
mated that petcoke accounted for 70% of these carbon particles into the air. It was this pressure
byproducts. that convinced PdVSA to outsource transpor-
The rise in Maroil’s profile comes at an oppor- tation and trading to Maroil under a $138mn
tune time, as PdVSA has recently launched two contract in 2016. ™

GUYANA
ExxonMobil reportedly still undecided on

bidding for more blocks offshore Guyana

EXXONMOBIL has not yet decided whether
it will bid for additional blocks of the coast of
Guyana in the event that the South American
country decides to auction off the unassigned
sections of its offshore zone, a source close to
the matter told Reuters last week.
The US-based super-major is already the
major player in Guyana’s burgeoning oil indus-
try, as it is the operator of the Stabroek licence
area.
This block is home to Liza-1 and Liza-2, the
country’s only two operating oilfields, along
with three other oil-bearing sites that have
been targeted for development: Payara-Pacora,
Yellowtail-Redtail and Uaru-Mako-Snoek.
Additionally, it includes more than two dozen
commercial hydrocarbon discoveries. Its recov-
erable reserves have been estimated at 11bn
barrels of oil equivalent (boe), and its crude
production may eventually peak at 1mn barrels
per day (bpd) or more.
Meanwhile, ExxonMobil is also the operator
of two other blocks offshore Guyana – Canje and
Kaieteur, both of which are adjacent to Stabroek.
Neither have yielded any commercial discover- Unassigned offshore blocks may be auctioned off by the end
ies yet. of this year (Image: Guyana Geology and Mines Commission)
Because of these extensive holdings – and
because of its dominant position at Stabroek – US company has still not yet decided whether it
there have been some calls to exclude Exxon- wants to try to obtain rights to the unassigned
Mobil from any future auctions. Critics have offshore blocks. ExxonMobil has informed the
suggested that the US giant ought to be barred Guyanese government that it will wait to hear
from bidding contests so that it does not gain the terms of the auctions before making a choice
an effective monopoly over Guyana’s offshore about participation, the source said.
sector. As of press time, the report could not be
The Guyanese government, for its part, has confirmed.
taken a different position. Earlier this year, Vice When contacted by the news agency,
President Bharrat Jagdeo said Georgetown was Meghan Macdonald, a spokesperson for the
ready to let ExxonMobil and its partners expand US major, said only that ExxonMobil “contin-
their Guyanese holdings if they agreed to speed ues to evaluate a wide range of global explora-
up their timetables for investment. tion opportunities, focusing our investments in
In any event, according to Reuters’ source, the advantaged assets.”

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 28•September•2022