India wants multi-year oil purchase deal with Guyana, acquire stakes in exploration areas, says Guyana minister

Guyanese Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat on Thursday said that India wants to ink a multi-year oil purchase deal with the South American nation and acquire stakes in its exploration areas. “We will make a decision at some point in time on crude oil sales to India in a long-term deal,” Reuters quoted Bharrat as saying on the sidelines of industry event India Energy Week in Goa. He mentioned that any agreement with India would need the approval of Guyana’s cabinet. As the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer, India seeks to broaden its sources of crude. Earlier this month, India gave its approval for the signing of a five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Guyana to collaborate in the energy sector. Following discussions with India’s oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Bharat additionally stated that Indian firms are keen on acquiring shares in Guyana’s exploration sites through negotiation rather than competitive bidding. Indian companies refrained from partaking in Guyana’s most recent oil and gas bidding cycle. “Our preference (for offering oil blocks for exploration) will be through bidding, and if there is any interest in any a particular block, we are willing to negotiate and enter an agreement,” Bharrat told Reuters. When asked if Guyana was willing to offer stakes in the Stabroek block to Indian companies, he said Guyana can offer stakes through negotiation only in relinquished area. The country may launch an exploration bidding round later this year for the relinquished areas of Stabroek and other blocks. “We have some relinquished acreage from Stabroek and other blocks so simply that means possibly we will have a bidding round possibly later this year,” he said. Stabroek, a consortium led by Exxon-Mobil that controls offshore production in Guyana, last year was required to return 20% of unexplored acres under the original 2016 production contract. There are three floating production storage and offloading facilities (FPSOs) deployed at the Stabroek block, he added. The block has reached production of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd), and the country expects to reach production of 1.2 million bpd by 2027, Bharrat said. Guyana’s oil production averaged 377,000 bpd in 2023. With inputs from agencies