Jagdeo deflects questions on Stabroek Block relinquishment to Min. Bharrat
Jun 15, 2025
Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo
Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday directed reporters to Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, when asked for an update on when ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) will finally relinquish 20% of the Stabroek Block, a requirement that has now passed its deadline by nine months.
Jagdeo, speaking at a press conference, made it clear that such operational matters fall outside his direct oversight. The Vice President was asked why the public or media was not informed by the ministry of a one-year extension granted to the oil companies for the Kaieteur Block and when will the 20% relinquishment of Stabroek Block be completed.
“As far as I’m concerned, all of the licenses, those who have licenses or licensees have to do relinquishment now, the time has expired for them to relinquish,” Jagdeo responded.
However, he declined to offer a specific timeline or explanation, adding, “I told you already, I’m not going to answer about when et cetera, you deal with the ministry…I don’t deal with routine things when this letter came in when that letter went out that’s Minister Vickram Bharrat, he deals with that in his ministry, I deal with policy issues of a broad nature, they deal with operational issues.”
Notably, the relinquishment of 20% of the Stabroek Block is now nine months past the deadline. An April 2025 statement issued by Ministry of Natural Resources noted that the requirements are expected to be completed “shortly” without offering a specific timeline for completion.
Under the terms of the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), Exxon is required to return acreage where no commercial discoveries have been made in production, appraised or areas where there is potential commercial interest.
Exxon was required to return a portion of the Block to Guyana since October 2023; however, former President David Granger had granted the company an extension in 2020 to conduct further exploration activities. This extended the deadline to October 2024. The most recent disclosure from the ministry reiterated that it is still finalising the review of the relinquishment.
Kaieteur Block
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat
Fresh attention has also turned to the Kaieteur Block. To date, no portion of the Kaieteur Block has been relinquished. The agreement for the block spanning 3.3 million acres was signed in April 2015 between Guyanese authorities and ExxonMobil Guyana, the previous operator of the block, which led a consortium consisting Hess Corporation, Ratio Energy Ltd. and Cataleya Energy Ltd.
At his press conference, the Vice President urged that updates be sought via the Ministry of Natural Resources’ website, which he said was “teeming with information.” However, this publication recently reported that in November 2024, the ministry gave oil companies Ratio Guyana Limited (RGL) and Cataleya Energy Limited (CEL) an extension of up to February 2026, before final decision is made on the relinquishment obligations for that oil block. It should be noted that this decision that was not officially announced by the ministry but revealed by the oil companies.
A single prospect has been drilled to date in the Kaieteur Block, which resulted in a sub-commercial oil discovery. The ExxonMobil-operated Tanager-1 well, which was drilled in August 2020, encountered 16 metres of net oil pay, a discovery of approximately 65 million barrels of oil in the prospect area, based on independent estimates by Netherland, Sewell & Associates Inc. (NSAI). This discovery was considered to be non-commercial as a standalone development.
However, in spite of a number of subsequent postponements, the operator at that time, ExxonMobil, had decided not to exercise its option to drill a second well on the block.
In September 2023, it was announced by Ratio Petroleum Energy Limited Partnership that both ExxonMobil and Hess had elected to withdraw from the Kaieteur Block and return their participating interests to the original Kaieteur Licence holders, Ratio Guyana Limited and Cataleya Energy Limited.
Ratio and Cataleya then sought government approval to reassign the participating interests, so that RGL and CEL will each retain a 50% participating interest, and to appoint RGL as the operator of the block.
Under the terms of the Kaieteur Petroleum Agreement, and upon submission of an application to enter the second extension period, the participating interests on the block will have until February 2025 to commit to drilling a well, before having to relinquish 20% of the block, or if it so wishes, the entire contract area.
However, on November 17, 2024 Ratio Petroleum reported that a one-year extension, to February 2026, had been granted to the drilling decision date. An unofficial English translation of an announcement by Ratio Petroleum stated that a formal request was submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources in November 2024, seeking an extension of the exploration period. It was stated that the extension was requested on the basis of technical and economic findings, according to the translated document.
Ratio, in the statement, said that the ministry confirmed receipt of the request, adding, “Accordingly, the partners in the block are expected to receive an update from the Guyanese authorities on whether additional exploration activities will be approved or whether the block (or part of it) will be relinquished, by February 2026.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Pic saved as: Jagdeo
Caption:
Pic saved as: Vickram
Caption: Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat
Related
Similar Articles
