Now that it has been awarded two blocks from the oil bid round, local company Sispro Incorporated has its eyes set on eventually moving towards exploration and, hopefully, production.
The company has further assured that there will be no flipping of these blocks.
Last week, it had been announced that local company Sispro was among the companies to have been awarded blocks from the recent oil auction. Of the eight new oil blocks that were awarded, Sispro received two blocks, including one of the only two deepwater blocks that were allocated.
Speaking with this publication, Executive Director and Chairwoman, Dr Melissa Varswyk, one of the four all-female directors of the company, noted that the company is happy with what they’ve been able to achieve. According to her, a lot of effort was put into the company getting so far. Varswyk also spoke about what the company’s next steps will be.
“Strengthening the team, of course. Making sure we have the best financial and administrative models. And crafting a way forward towards exploration and hopefully, production from these blocks…. we’re not going to be flippers,” Dr Varswyk explained.
“We put a lot of effort into getting this far. And we built a team we are proud of. And we’re happy we were awarded at the end. We definitely want to explore the challenge of being operators. So, plans are to go the nine yards.”
Varswyk noted that now the company will head into negotiations with the Government, on the agreement to be signed. According to her, however, at the end of it all, the company wants what’s best for Guyana, just like the Government.
“We understand that we have to go along with the system. We plan that we are going to be asking or doing some negotiations with Government with a view of the terms of the PSA, but we’ll see how that goes,” the Director explained.
“But at the end of it all, like Government, we want what’s best for Guyana. And that is why we want to make sure all Guyanese win. I don’t see us having to lose providing that we fulfil that criterion in terms of deadlines and so forth, at the end of the day, it will be Guyana winning either way.”
Meanwhile, a part of Sispro’s strategic plan is to eventually branch out into renewable energy. For now, however, the company’s focus is on oil and gas. According to Varswyk, “basically we will be exploring the best possible option. We did have discussions with a few in the industry. And we are going to see what will be the best possible way forward.”
In addition to Varswyk, the other three Executive Directors are Dr Ayodele Dalgety-Dean; Executive Director and Secretary Abbigale Loncke-Watson; and Executive Director and THAG President Dee George.
Sispro received a shallow block (S3) and a deep-water block (D2), from the auction of the blocks offshore Guyana. 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.
During his press conference on Thursday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was in high praise for the local group – Sispro Inc, for securing the two oil blocks in what he described as a “very competitive environment”.
“This is a very risky sector and I’m extremely pleased that the locals have been able to organise themselves to work with some foreign companies to put in the bids,” Jagdeo had noted.
With the oil blocks having been awarded, the Vice President had said the Government would now be moving to start contract negotiations with these companies as early as this week.
