Latest update February 6th, 2026 12:35 AM
Govt. boasts of US$32M signing bonus from small oil blocks
– slams lopsided Stabroek block deal
(Kaieteur News) – Guyana has secured nearly twice the signing bonus from two relatively small offshore oil blocks than it received for the massive Stabroek Block, a point forcefully highlighted by Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, during Day Two of the Budget 2026 debates on Tuesday.
Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat
Addressing the National Assembly at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Bharrat said the government earned US$32 million in signing bonuses from two shallow-water blocks: S4 and S7, each about 2,000 square kilometres in size. By contrast, he noted, the former APNU/AFC administration accepted a US$18 million signing bonus for the Stabroek Block, which spans more than 26,000 square kilometres and remains Guyana’s most productive oil asset. “Only recently, we signed two new agreements with oil companies around the world and Mr. Speaker these two new agreements have earned our country US$32M in signing bonus only.” “Just to draw comparison, the APNU/AFC government at that time accepted a US$18M signing bonus for a block that is over 26,000 square kilometers when we would have earned US$32M in signing bonus for two blocks, less than 4,000 square kilometers,” the minister boasted.
Government inked new Production Sharing Agreements and Exploration Licenses with the companies in the latter half of 2025 which feature improved fiscal and regulatory terms, compared with the Stabroek Block deal. The Natural Resources Minister therefore noted out that such actions are geared at “putting people first” in keeping with this year’s Budget theme.
In addition to the negotiation of an enhanced signing bonus, Bharrat highlighted a number of other measures that have been put in place to improve oversight and management of the sector, including the importation of a capping stack in the country to respond to an oil spill and the presence of Guyanese on the Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSOs) 24/7.
“On every FPSO offshore Guyana we have a representative from the Ministry of Natural Resources on a full time basis. We have a representative from the Environmental Protection Agency, we have a representative from the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, we have a representative from the Guyana Revenue Authority overlooking our interest,” the Bharrat said.
He noted that the only time oil is offloaded from the FPSO into a tanker is when these individuals are present. When it comes to transparency, Bharrat pointed out that all revenue deposited into the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) is reported, while withdrawals can be easily calculated by anyone using the formula in the Act. Moreover, he reminded that all withdrawals are first approved in the National Assembly through the budgetary process.
Notably, minister Bharrat threw a punch at the Opposition side, for failing to offer any comments on the oil and gas sector. He observed that two Opposition Parliamentarians tasked with Natural Resources presented before him in the National Assembly, however, neither thought it appropriate to address issues in the burgeoning industry which is the country’s main economic driver. Bharrat mocked the Opposition’s silence, arguing, “both of them (WIN and APNU) spoke and they dare not spoke of the oil and gas sector, such an important sector in our country and oil and gas has propelled development in our country. Oil and gas has acted as a catalyst for the development in our country. Oil and gas is actually helped to expand the other productive sectors in our country, like tourism, like manufacturing, like construction. Oil and gas has been the catalyst for that.”
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