Jagdeo warns oil companies of underhand land acquisitions, arrangements

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has cautioned the companies currently exploring Guyana’s oil and gas industry not to get involved in underhand deals or illegal purchasing of lands, stating that it will be exposed.

At his weekly press conference on Thursday, the Opposition Leader indicated that under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, such acts will not be condoned or overlooked by any extent.

“I want to urge the oil companies who are here, that any purchase of land or assets that are illegally transferred, we will not allow it to stand. They will be exposed. Deals that are tied up with people who are using lands in dispute or lands that have been illegally transferred to tie up joint venture arrangements with the foreigners. They have no guarantee from a PPP Government that we will respect any of the arrangements they tie up…I want to make that clear to all the oil companies that are here,” Jagdeo said.

Back in August, Jagdeo had alleged that there are many investors coming to Guyana to take advantage of underhand deals and are benefitting from land giveaways, during a time when the Government should be in a caretaker mode.

This, he signalled, was even more worrying for Guyana with the absence of a Local Content Policy to protect the interests of Guyanese.

“Let me tell you something about local content. Before the Government changes, almost all of the opportunities that are going [to] be available for our people are gonna be gone… There is no Local Content Policy. We will become second class citizens in this country because this Government doesn’t care, and is not looking out for Guyanese and is part of these deals,” he stressed.

According to Jagdeo, while Guyana can benefit from the expertise of its neighbours, he believes Guyanese should be able to broker the same benefits as foreigners.
“When are you gonna protect our people; when you gonna have the courage to protect our people through a solid Local Content Policy… I don’t have a problem with people coming here.

I believe they have a lot of expertise in the oil and gas sector, we need skilled people but they must come in transparently and Guyanese must have the opportunity to access the same resources they are getting now at this rate,” he contended.
He went on to say that under a PPP Administration, the establishment of such a policy could materialise within a matter of one month.

Oil discoveries
Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL, Exxon’s local subsidiary) has made 14 oil finds in the Stabroek block over 100 miles offshore Guyana, including four for this year.
Last year, the company made five discoveries. These finds have pushed the total estimated recoverable barrels of oil equivalent to over six billion.

In addition, Exxon is moving ahead with its Liza Phase Two project, which will contain approximately 30 wells.
The Liza Destiny, Guyana’s first Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, arrived in Guyana’s waters at the end of August. The vessel will play a key role in oil production, scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year.

Meanwhile, Tullow has made two oil finds in its Jethro and Joe wells. On September 16, the same day that ExxonMobil announced its 14th oil find, Tullow also revealed that it had made its second oil find in just a matter of weeks – the discovery of 14 metres of oil reservoirs at the Joe well.

However, the oil found by Tullow is now under question after tests found that the heavy crude has a high sulphur content and, thus, is not commercially viable. Crude with high sulphur content is a variety of oil that is less economically viable than the light, sweet crudes found in the United States and Saudi Arabia, or even the oil found by ExxonMobil right offshore Guyana in the neighbouring Stabroek Block.

Both the Jethro and Joe wells were drilled in the Orinduik Block, which is located just a few kilometres from ExxonMobil’s discoveries. Despite the close proximity of the blocks, however, Exxon has not had the same issues with oil impurities.

In light of the latest analysis, Tullow said that it would weigh “the commercial viability of these discoveries considering the quality of the oil, alongside the high-quality reservoir sands and strong overpressure”.