Consultations on new oil contracts will not be extended – Jagdeo

The government is pushing ahead with finalising a new Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), a move that is intended to correct shortcomings in the existing oil contract that currently allows ExxonMobil to conduct its operations in the prolific Stabroek Block.

A 14-day consultation that allowed for reviews of the government’s draft ended on March 28.

The main political opposition had called for a longer consultation period on the two new oil contracts released last month by the government so that it can peruse the documents in greater detail.

On Tuesday, Jagdeo said there will be no extension to the process.

And according to him, from the two weeks of consultation, the government has received “quite a few comments from a large number of people.”

Jagdeo, while speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the Local Content Summit at the Pegasus Corporate Suites in Kingston, Georgetown, said the call for an extension cannot be justified.

“They knew we were going to put out a draft PSA, it’s a five-year-old issue.

“It’s just another one of those things to get more time when people don’t want to put in the technical effort,” the Vice President contended.

He assured, however, that should the government continue to receive comments while it is finalising the new PSA, those comments will not be completely ignored.

The model contracts were released in early March and will be used for new arrangements with oil companies participating in the auction of 14 oil blocks in shallow and deepwater areas offshore Guyana.

Because of a lopsided Production Sharing Agreement (oil contract) between Guyana and an ExxonMobil-led consortium for the prolific Stabroek Block, the government said it is keen on guaranteeing that future deals augur greater benefits for Guyana.