British firm to advise Energy Dept on Payara oil field development

Having evaluated 11 Expressions of Interest (EOI) from international firms to provide technical support to the Department of Energy as it seeks to manage Guyana’s oil and gas sector, one British firm has emerged on top.
According to a statement from the Department on Tuesday, Bayphase Geologists, Engineers and Investment Analysts Limited (or for short, Bayphase Ltd) emerged from the evaluation as the highest-ranked firm.
It is understood that they were invited to submit a technical and financial proposal as part of the process. According to the Department, the consultancy is to provide support to the Energy Department as it handles the Project Development Evaluation of the Payara oil field.

The Department also said that the Procurement Plan of the Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project (GPRGMP) and the Procurement Method of Consultant’s Qualifications Selection (CQS) was followed in evaluating the firm.
Afterwards, both the evaluation report and the recommendation for contract award were approved by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). It was explained by the Department that the contract commenced December 30, 2019, and will last for 4 months.
“Under this consultancy, Bayphase will provide advisory services and technical support to the Government of Guyana through the Department of Energy (DE) as Guyana seeks to rapidly build out its in-house technical capacity. The project covers such areas as an in-depth review of the Payara field development plan (FDP), environmental impact assessment (EIA) and supporting documents.”
“It also includes on-the-job training for Guyanese and preparation of draft national FDP guidelines. Amongst beneficiaries of training from Bayphase will be the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DE) and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission Petroleum Division (GGMC-PD),” the Department also said.
The Department has been under criticism regarding its sloth in developing key pieces of policy for the oil and gas sector. According to them, however, this consultancy is expected to help to advance their efforts to build capacity.
They were also hopeful that it would help to level the playing field between regulators and State agencies and the more experienced international oil companies operating in Guyana’s oil and gas sector.
According to its website, Bayphase has experience in-field development planning, resource auditing and valuation; cost auditing and estimates, reservoir modelling and strategic studies. When it comes to field development planning, they list Libya, Sudan, Seychelles, India and Indonesia as some of the places where they have worked.
So far, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL, Exxon’s local subsidiary) has now made 15 oil finds in the Stabroek Block over 100 miles offshore Guyana, including four for this year.
Last year, the company made five discoveries. These discoveries 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.
The oil giant has said that pending Government approvals and project sanctioning of a third development, production in the Payara field north of the Liza discoveries could start as early as 2023, reaching an estimated 220,000 barrels of oil per day.