Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TOT, EPA:TTE) are among the major international energy companies staking additional acreage in the prolific waters offshore Guyana.
Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES), Qatar Energy, Petronas and Chinese state-backed CNOOC were also reported to be involved across bidding consortia.
Interest in the South American oil frontier has been driven by Exxon’s spectacular streak of exploration successes which have seen it discover over 11 billion barrels of crude and develop the large-scale high-yield Liza field.
The reflex analysis following the country’s block auction was mixed.
On the one hand, the government process confirmed that major oil and gas firms remain actively engaged in picking up new projects, in Guyana.
But, on the other, a significant proportion of the acreage made available by the Guyana authorities was not claimed by companies.
Guyana received bids for eight of the 14 blocks put out to the industry, and, the international oil majors that participated effectively clustered together into two separate consortia.
Exxon, Hess and CNOOC acted as one group, whilst TotalEnergies, Qatar and Petronas separately joined to bid for acreage.
Guyana president Irfaan Ali, in the wake of the auction, denied the result was a disappointment.