Govt cancels CGX/Frontera’s prospecting licence for Corentyne block

The Government of Guyana has officially cancelled the petroleum prospecting licence for the Corentyne Block held by the joint venture partnership of CGX Energy Incorporated and Frontera Energy.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the joint venture disclosed that it has received a letter from Government informing of the cancellation of the licence. However, the partnership is contesting this decision, and is asserting that its licence remains valid and its petroleum agreement has not been legally terminated.
“We continue to invite the Government of Guyana to amicably resolve the issues affecting our investments in the Corentyne Block. Should an agreement not be reached, we are prepared to assert our legal rights,” the partnership has declared.
Sources have indicated that this CGX/Frontera partnership has not been fully transparent with its shareholders in regard to its communications with the Guyana Government. A senior Government official told this publication that, in selectively disclosing Government correspondence, the joint venture has potentially misrepresented interactions. The official has since urged this CGX/ Frontera partnership to release the full content of the letter, not only to stakeholders, but also to the media for scrutiny.
Government had, in February 2025, given the Canadian joint venturers 30 days’ notice that they would once and for all be evicted from the Corentyne Block. The administration and this CGX/Frontera partnership have been in disagreement over the status of the Corentyne Block, which the partnership had initially undertaken to develop. While Government has said the partners no longer hold a licence for the block, due to a lack of development, the companies have asserted otherwise.
CGX Energy Inc, a Canadian-based oil and gas company, had in 2021/2022 said it had successfully drilled the Kawa-1 well in the eastern channel sand complex of the northern segment of the Corentyne block.

In 2023, the joint venture partners had successfully drilled the Wei-1 well, the second well in the Corentyne Block, as part of their appraisal programme for the Kawa-1 discovery, which ended on June 28, 2024. That drilling exercise had fulfilled the operators’ obligation under Phase Two of the Second Renewal Period of the original 10-year licence. However, the company has since not progressed towards fully developing the potential of the block.
Back in June 2024, CGX and Frontera had announced that they had submitted a ‘Notice of Potential Commercial Interest’ for the Wei-1 discovery to the Guyana Government, which preserves their interests in the Petroleum Prospecting Licence for the Corentyne Block, offshore Guyana.
However, that move was seen by some as a last-ditch effort to avoid having to relinquish their acreage in the Block. In 2024, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had also pointed out that if the joint venture partners wanted to pursue a development offshore in Guyana, then they needed to detail that project and prove financing prospects.
Already, CGX has had to give up two other blocks offshore Guyana, along with parts of the Corentyne Block, after failing to develop them as per its agreement with the Guyana Government.