Latest update October 18th, 2026 10:40 AM
Only applications from most responsive bidders will be gazetted – Ministry clarifies
Guyana’s 2022 oil blocks auction…
Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Natural Resources clarified yesterday that the applications by oil companies for new blocks which featured in the nation’s first auction, will be gazetted only after they are properly evaluated.
This clarification follows an article published by Kaieteur News on Tuesday, stating that it has been over three weeks since the Government has failed to gazette the applications made on or before September 12, 2023.
The ministry explained that a process has to be followed and that the applications will not be gazetted simply because they were received. The ministry said in keeping with the recently repealed Petroleum Exploration and Production Act 1986, the notice for oil blocks tender was issued in the Official Gazette dated December 9, 2022.
The ministry said this notice invited interested parties to competitively participate in the bidding round through paid access to a virtual data room. Importantly, this notice included the coordinates of the area for which interested parties could submit tenders.
The ministry further noted that the Petroleum Activities Act came into force on September 1, 2023, which continued the 2022 Bid Round. Additionally, it said updated bid round guidelines were issued via notice dated September 11, 2023.
On the conclusion of the bid round, and once the bids are evaluated, the ministry said the most substantially responsive bidder(s) for a specific block would then be invited to make an application for the grant of a petroleum exploration license for that block.
The ministry said this is in keeping with the established legal framework under the Petroleum Activities Act.
Further, the ministry said these are the applications that will be required to be gazetted in keeping with the new law.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources was keen to underscore that it remains fully compliant with all the applicable laws of Guyana regarding the nation’s first bid round.
Kaieteur News previously reported that the firms bidding for oil blocks in the offshore licensing round include global players like ExxonMobil, Total Energies EP Guyana B.V, and Qatar Energy International E&P LLC, among others. The bids encompass eight blocks, with the other six offered blocks expected to remain unlicensed.
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