British trading firms BB Energy and JE Energy on Thursday won two contracts to market Guyana's share of crude production through deals that will pay the South American country premium fees of between 26 cents and 70 cents per barrel over market prices, the energy minister said.
Guyana's light sweet crude grades, Liza and Unity Gold, have become popular among refiners in regions from Asia to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The nation, home to one of the largest oil discoveries in the last decade, began oil production in 2019, and exports were inaugurated in 2020.
The winning trading firms plan to sign the contracts soon, according to information provided by minister Vickram Bharrat to Reuters.
More than 20 companies, including a unit of Saudi Aramco 2222.SE, Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell, had submitted bids to compete for the contracts, the government had previously said.
In previous years, the 12-month contracts that allow Guyana to export its portion of crude produced offshore by a consortium led by Exxon, had been awarded to the Aramco unit, Shell, and BP.
Guyana is producing some 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil. The Exxon consortium, which is planning its sixth offshore project in the country, Whiptail, plans to surpass 1.2 million bpd of output by 2027.
(Reuters - Reporting by Kiana Wilburg, writing by Marianna Parraga/Editing by Marguerita Choy)