GUYANA could expect its fourth shipment of crude in November 2020, as the Ministry of Natural Resources is working to secure a suitable firm to market Guyana’s crude by October.
The country secured its third crude lift in August 2020. Though payment for this shipment is yet to be processed, Guyana already has over US$90M in its Natural Resource Fund (NRF) from previous shipments, royalties and interest. Guyana’s first three million-barrel cargoes of crude were contracted to Shell Western Supply and Trading.
Recently, the government decided to retender the Request For Proposal (RFP) for companies to market Guyana’s crude, with the aim of correcting bids made under the then “illegal” APNU+AFC Government. Previously, 34 large oil traders had submitted proposals, and 19 were shortlisted. It is likely that many of these companies or more will re-submit proposals.
“We’re trying to wrap up this process sometime early October; the process of selecting the company, because the next lift will be some time in November, so we need to give the company some time to be ready,” Minister Vickram Bharrat said.
Guyana is entitled to five crude cargoes for this year as part of its profit share with ExxonMobil and its Joint-Venture (JV) partners. This means that with Shell having received its three cargoes, the country can market its crude to another company or location.