The winners of an auction for oil exploration blocks off Guyana's coast were given until the end of the month to submit additional information requested by the government before awarding the contracts, the country's vice president said on Thursday.
Following delays, the Guyanese government in September received bids for eight of 14 offshore blocks offered in the auction. The list of bidders included established players in the Guyana-Suriname basin, including consortia led by Exxon Mobil and TotalEnergies, along with smaller foreign and local firms.
"The firms were requested to supply additional information," Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told journalists in a press conference. "The information will come in by the end of this month, beyond which they will hopefully be able to conclude these arrangements."
The contracts were originally scheduled to be awarded in November, but the periods set for evaluating offers and negotiating some terms have taken longer.
The auction has garnered global attention following the discovery of more than 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas resources by a group led by Exxon, which is the only one producing in the South American nation.
A territorial dispute with Venezuela also is looming over the process, with neighbor Venezuela saying Guyana's auction winners will not have rights to explore the maritime areas.
Guyana hired consultants to help with the offer evaluations, including verifying the companies' sources of funds, Jagdeo added.
"Before the final sign off, we have to do the due diligence to see what was in the proposal that won the bid to ensure the companies can meet those obligations and they have the wherewithal to address those issues," he added.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is discussing the Venezuela-Guyana border dispute. The presidents of both nations in December agreed to avoid any use of force and to not escalate tensions in their long-running dispute.
(Reuters - Reporting by Kiana Wilburg, writing by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Marguerita Choy)