With a commitment to speak as “One Voice, One Private Sector”, the Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and its Energy Sub-Committee met Friday, at the request of the Guyana Oil and Gas Association (GOGA), with GOGA and the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC) to discuss the emerging oil and gas sector.
PSC in a statement said that, among issues discussed were the future of Guyana’s economy in light of the oil and gas discovery by companies operating in the Stabroek Block, governance and oil and gas, the draft Local Content Policy, the Petroleum Bill and key issues relating to the sector which should engage the attention of the private sector in the coming years leading up to production.
It was agreed that GOGA and GOGEC would collaborate with the Private Sector Commission, through its Energy Sub-Committee, on all related matters pertaining to the oil and gas sector.
ExxonMobil, the US-based oil giant, gearing for production offshore Guyana, recently handed a major contract to a Dutch based company to install and operate its floating producing and storage base for its Liza oil field in Guyana.
The company — SBM Offshore –made the official announcement on Monday saying under the contract it will construct, install, lease and operate a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Vessel (FPSO).
The FPSO is said to be designed to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day and will have an associated gas treatment capacity of about 170 million cubic feet per day and water injection capacity of about 200,000 barrels per day.
The floating base will be moored at a depth of 1525 meters and will be able to store 1.6 million barrels of crude oil at a given time.
Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, had said the Stabroek Basin offshore Guyana, where exploration activities are currently underway, holds potentially two billion barrels of recoverable oil.
With the certainty of oil production moving from a position of if to when, concerns have been raised by observers and analysts that the two per cent royalty brokered between Government and ExxonMobil is “too low” when compared to royalties received by oil-producing countries in the world.
