PRINCIPALS from petroleum companies operating in Guyana had a meeting with Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud and Deputy Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Newell Dennison in the United States.
The meeting was held against the backdrop that Guyana has petroleum prospecting licenses issued for exploration activities by petroleum companies in the offshore, coastal, near shore, deep water and ultra-deep waters of Guyana and within Guyana maritime areas.
Executives of CGX Resources Inc, ESSO Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd and Repsol Exploracion Guyana S.A. were in attendance while new venture company Ratio Petroleum was also present.
The petroleum companies shared their operational experiences in Guyana and cross-cutting issues were identified which needed to be better addressed. In that regard, it was recognised that during 2013, there were three (3) major offshore 2D and 3D seismic acquisitions and these involved administration details with several agencies such as the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and the Guyana Revenue Authority.
The volume of documents which had to be processed in an organised and timely manner was a challenge which was handled well under the circumstances by the involved agencies where full support was always evident. However, better systems are being examined to improve future operations.
Minister Persaud was able to respond and give his assurances that he would engage his colleagues to tackle this matter.
Minister Persaud was also able to respond to concerns over the situation with Venezuela which directly affected Anadarko’s survey in October 2013. He also intimated that Guyana was committed to a peaceful resolution but would preserve Guyana’s rights of sovereignty guaranteed under international laws and conventions.
Esso, Repsol and Anadarko were companies operating offshore which concluded geophysical in their respective prospecting areas. Nabi Oil and Gas Inc. concluded a small geochemistry survey over their coastal onshore block in the last quarter of 2013 and together such investments in exploration have been in the vicinity of US$ 50-million.
CGX indicated that significant funding was being arranged for their own exploration programme over their prospecting areas and that they should in the near term be advising on their plans. All the companies present committed to keeping their timelines and especially with regard to processing and interpreting their new data which has to inform on an anticipated next campaign of drilling speculated for as early as 2015.
The meeting concluded with an undertaking by all to work in a unified manner to overcome the issues common to all stakeholders for a more efficient outcome. (GINA)
