<article><p class="lead">Guyana's new government has cancelled a tender for a one-year contract to market the government's share of Liza crude from the offshore Stabroek block.</p><p>The South American country's former government had shortlisted 19 bidders to make technical and financial proposals to market a minimum of five 1mn bl cargoes of 32.1°API Liza crude in 2020-21.</p><p>The tender was "unfair" to many companies that "acted decently and did not put in a bid because they recognized that there was an illegal government in place," vice president Bharrat Jagdeo said on 15 August, without indicating when new bids would be sought. </p><p>The new administration was inaugurated on 8 August after a five-month political impasse that followed 2 March elections.</p><p>"We made it clear in the campaign that companies should not be submitting bids to an illegal government that was there at that time," Jagdeo said.</p><p>The shortlist was drawn by the previous government from 34 bidders that applied when the tender closed on 21 April. </p><p>The shortlist included ExxonMobil that spearheaded the country's deepwater oil play, along with Shell, BP, Equinor, Total, traders Vitol and Glencore, and Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras.</p><p>None of the companies has reacted publicly to the decision to scrap the tender.</p><p>The <a href="https://www2.argusmedia.com/en/news/2131023-guyana-mulls-absorbing-energy-dept-into-ministry?backToResults=true">energy department</a> was evaluating the technical and financial proposals from the shortlisted companies in anticipation of announcing an award "as soon as possible," the department's director Mark Bynoe told <i>Argus</i> on 6 August.</p><p>"With a new administration in place we will have to give some consideration for it to be fully briefed," he said at the time.</p><p>Guyana awarded the first three cargoes of its share of Liza production to Shell Western Supply and Trading in a restricted opening tender. The first 1mn bl allotment loaded in February 2020, the second in May and <a href="https://www2.argusmedia.com/en/news/2130368-guyana-loading-third-1mn-bl-crude-cargo?backToResults=true">the final in early August</a>.</p><p>Liza is produced by an ExxonMobil-led consortium at Stabroek, where output began in December 2019. The consortium includes US independent Hess and Chinese state-owned CNOOC unit Nexen. </p><p>Production is expected to reach 120,000 b/d in August, <a href="https://www2.argusmedia.com/en/news/2131424-guyana-poised-to-clear-exxonmobils-payara-project?backToResults=true">ramping up</a> to 750,000 b/d in 2025.</p><p>Income from the first two lifts by Shell and royalties from the ExxonMobil consortium have boosted Guyana's earnings from oil in 2020 to $98.6mn, according to the finance ministry.</p><p class="bylines">By Canute James</p></article>
