3 US firms among 5 bidders vying to offer advisory services for Gas-to-Energy project

Sep 14, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Responding to the Ministry of Natural Resources’ request for proposals (RFP) for advisory services on the upcoming Gas-to-Energy project, three United States (US) firms, a German firm, and a United Kingdom firm have all applied.

This was announced during the opening of tenders on Tuesday at the office of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB). During the reading of the minutes on Tuesday it was revealed that ‘Mayer Brown and Stanhope’, ‘CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, LLP’, ‘Squire Patton Boggs (UK)’ in joint venture with ‘Bayphase Oil and Gas Consultants’,’ Kean Miller, LLP’ and ‘The Callender Law Firm, PLLC’ have all tendered for the Ministry’s project.

Kaieteur News understands that ‘Mayer Brown’ is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, (USA) and is a distinctively global law firm, ‘CMS Cameron’, which is an international law firm that provide tax and legal advisory services, is headquartered in Germany, ‘Kean Miller’, which was established in 1983, is based in Louisiana (US), and ‘the Callender Law Firm’, according to its website, is a Texas and New York based law practice that provides high quality legal services in business law, commercial law, oil and gas law, industrial law just to name a few.
‘Squire Patton’ and its joint venture ‘Bayphase’ are UK-based firms.

The Ministry in its request for proposals notice stated that part of its budgetary allocation this year will be spent on the procurement of consultancy services for ‘Legal and Commercial Advisory Services and Negotiation Support’ for the massive project.

“As the Cooperative Republic of Guyana moves into a new chapter of history as a petroleum producing nation, sustainable development lies at the core of the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana’s (GoG’s) goals for the sector. Being keenly aware that petroleum is a non-renewable resource, considerations related to its extraction and conversion into financial capital highlight the requirement and responsibility to ensure that the resource is prudently managed…the GoG is committed to ensuring that this framework allows both present and future generations to reap the benefits,” the Ministry stated.
In the 28-page document, the Natural Resources Ministry noted that the successful client will be tasked with reviewing the existing legal and regulatory framework for the petroleum sector, integrated policy directives, and concluded deliverables regarding project development. These include but are not limited to the existing petroleum legislation, Petroleum License, the Liza Production License and Heads of Agreement between the Government and Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL/ExxonMobil Guyana).

Also among the successful consultant’s job description, is to review the draft Gas Supply Agreement submitted by the Stabroek Contractor, provide detailed legal opinion, comments and advice, support the Ministry’s engagements with the contractor during the negotiations stage and document the review process and outcomes.

The duration of the consultancy is expected to be 45 days, commencing around October 10, 2022.

The Government had pointed out that the successful candidate should be an internationally recognised firm with prior experience completing similar assignments and comprise a pool of skilled professionals. To this end, the core team should include a lawyer who specialises in petroleum law with at least 15 years of experience, a lawyer with a minimum of 12 years of experience in the development of gas sales agreement and gas transportation agreements, among others, as well as a lawyer with a minimum of 12 years experience in Health, Safety and Environment Law.

Meanwhile, the negotiations expert should have at least 12 years of experience as well.

As reported, the Gas-to-Energy project will involve capturing associated gas produced from crude oil production operations on the Liza Phase 1 (Destiny) and Liza Phase 2 (Unity) Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels, transporting approximately 50 million standard cubic feet per day.

The combined offshore and onshore pipeline system is targeted to be ready to deliver rich gas by the end of 2024, and the Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Plant is targeted to be operational by mid-2025. The project has a planned life cycle of at least 25 years.