No new oil deals to be signed before elections – Jagdeo
Jun 14, 2025
Vice President and PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo
Kaieteur News – Vice President and General Secretary of the PPP, Bharrat Jagdeo said the government has halted the finalisation of new oil agreements until after General and Regional Elections scheduled for September 1.
This means that no prospecting licences will be signed for the oil blocks awarded in Guyana’s inaugural competitive licensing round at least for the remainder of this government’s term.
In 2023, six companies were awarded offshore oil blocks and four companies had accepted the terms of the new Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).
The government awarded eight oil blocks: Sispro Inc, Total Energies Consortium with Qatar Energy and Petronas, Liberty Petroleum Corporation, Cybele Energy Limited, International Group Investment Inc., ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, Hess and CNOOC and Delcorp Inc, which comprises Watad Energy and Communications Limited and Arabian Drilling Company.
The four companies that accepted the new PSA are Cybele Energy Limited, Delcorp Inc., TotalEnergies Consortium, and International Group Investment Inc. The oil companies will be expected to pay a 10 per cent royalty and a 10 per cent corporate tax to the government. In the meantime, the cost recovery will be capped at 65 per cent in a given year, while profits will be shared 50/50 between the parties.
When asked for an update at his press conference this week, Jagdeo directed media queries to the Ministry of Natural Resources, noting that the ministry handles direct engagement with the companies. “They would be able to give you an update as to where we are in every one of those negotiations,” he said.
However, he stated that he believes no oil deal should be signed during the period leading up to elections. “I doubt that we will sign any of those in the next maybe two or three months too if they’ve not been signed as yet I think we should await after the elections to do that,” Jagdeo said.
During his 2025 budget presentation, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh said the government is likely to enter three new PSAs in the first half of this year.
Dr. Singh said, “delivering on our commitment of ensuring all oil blocks are competitively tendered and aligned with global best practices, Guyana held its first licensing round in 2023. Among the eight shortlisted blocks, three PSAs will be finalised and signed in the first half of 2025, while the remaining bidders are engaging government with finalisation also expected this year.”
The government has since passed the Petroleum Activities Law and has finalised the new model PSA that will govern future awards of deep water and shallow water concessions. Kaieteur News had reported that 11 of the oil blocks on auction are located in the shallow area and three are in the deepwater zone. Importantly, each area is governed by separate PSAs. They range between 1000 square kilometres to 3000 square kilometres with the majority of them being close to 2000 square kilometres.
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