Guyana selects UK BP International to market country’s crude oil

The Guyana government says it has selected the UK-based BP International Limited to market the country’s share of petroleum from the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels. 

Under the Production Sharing Agreement, Guyana is entitled to 50 per cent of the profit oil share- that is 12.5 per cent each to the country and the ExxonMobil-led Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL)- and 75 per cent goes to cost oil. Guyana also gets two per cent royalty. 

In a statement, the Ministry of Natural Resources, which had issued the Request For Bids on September 16, 2022, with October 11, 2022, as the submission deadline, said 14 bids were submitted to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) following a competitive procurement process, 

It said that the procurement board appointed an Evaluation Committee and that committee recommended BP International for the award of contract as part of its evaluation report. That report was cleared by NPTAB and received the Cabinet’s ‘no objection’. 

“The duration of this contract will be for 12 months at a marketing price of US$0.00 per barrel. This procurement process was initiated after the contract with Aramco Trading Limited (Arabia American Oil Company) ended,” the ministry said. 

According to the statement, the UK oil company will provide support and guidance to the Guyana government “in all operating and back-office responsibilities of managing the crude sales and each individual lift whilst facilitating timely and cost-effective crude operations”. 

It will also support the government “in the continued introduction of the grade to multiply geographies and refinery systems, and provide benchmark and performance comparisons of prices paid for Guyana’s crude;” as well as work closely with Georgetown “to understand the behaviour and yields of the Liza blend and how these can affect pricing differentials”. 

The statement said that the government will continue to “employ transparent and international best practices in the management of the nation’s petroleum resources so as to attain maximum returns and advance the livelihoods of all citizens”