Exxon remains interested in S8 block won in bid round – VP Jagdeo

– as Govt continues talks with company over oil block

Far from walking away due to differences with the Government over carbon capture, United States (US) oil giant ExxonMobil and its partners remain interested in talks on the S8 (shallow water) oil block off the shore of Guyana, which they won in the 2023 bid round auction.
This was confirmed by Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, during his most recent press conference. According to Jagdeo, the company reached out to the Government to indicate its continued interest in the block.
“I was notified by Vickram Bharrat, the Minister, that they had indicated that they would walk away from it because the conditions were not right. Since my public statement, Exxon has written to us that that might not be the full story, that they still have some interest in it,’ Jagdeo said.
“So, from my (previous) press conference to now, and I verified it with Vickram Bharrat, that that was said in a meeting, they said that there might have been a misunderstanding. That they have not walked away from it. So, let’s see how it goes.”

In October 2024, it was announced that four of six bidders from the 2023 oil bid round had accepted the new model Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) and were either processing the agreement or conducting final reviews.
According to a list released by the Government, Total Energies EP Guyana BV, in consortium with Qatar Energy International E&P LLC and Petronas E&P Overseas Ventures SDN BHD (Malaysia) – which bid for block S4 – have already accepted the PSA. Currently, their agreement is in the final stages of review.
Delcorp Inc Guyana, comprising Watad Energy and Communications Limited and Arabian Drilling Company of Saudi Arabia, which bid for block D1; and Ghana-based Cybele Energy Limited, which bid for block S7, have also accepted their PSA, which is in the final stages of review.
International Group Investment Inc of Nigeria, which bid for blocks S5 and S10, have accepted the PSAs for both blocks, which are being processed. However, the Ministry of Natural Resources had explained, that Stabroek Block partners ExxonMobil Guyana Ltd, Hess Guyana Lt & CNOOC, which had bid for block S8, were reviewing the PSA.
Unlike the 2016 oil contract signed between the ExxonMobil-led co-venturers and the then A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Coalition, the new agreement outlines an increase in royalty from two per cent to 10 per cent, a 65 per cent cost recovery as opposed to the previous 75 per cent, and the retention of the 50-50 profit-sharing. Each company is also required to pay a signing bonus of US$10 million for shallow water projects and US$20 million for deepwater projects.
The companies –some of which are consortiums –were selected following an auction which was launched in December 2022 and closed off in September 2023. In total, there were 14 offers made on those blocks – two deep-sea blocks and six shallow-area blocks.
Among those awarded oil blocks during the bid round was a Guyanese female-led company, Sispro Inc, which received a shallow block (S3) and a deep-water block (D2). Other shallow blocks were awarded to Total Energies EP Guyana BV in consortium with Qatar Energy International E&P LLC and Petronas E&P Overseas Ventures SDN BHD (Malaysia), which got Block S4; Liberty Petroleum Corporation of the US and Ghana-based Cybele Energy Limited, which got Block S7, and International Group Investment Inc of Nigeria, which got two blocks – S5 and S10.
Another shallow block, S8, was awarded to the Stabroek Block partners – ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, Hess New Ventures Exploration Limited, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited. The second deep-water block – D1 – was awarded to Delcorp Inc Guyana, which comprises Watad Energy and Communications Limited and Arabian Drilling Company of Saudi Arabia.