ExxonMobil finalises offshore drilling plans here
Guyana Chronicle
March 7, 2007
REPRESENTATIVES of the Canadian exploration company ExxonMobil yesterday met President Bharrat Jagdeo to finalise offshore drilling arrangements in anticipation of a favourable outcome to the ongoing territorial dispute between Guyana and Suriname.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) said among those at the meeting at the Office of the President were Exxon’s South America Area Manager Jim Flannery, Advisor International Government Relations, Milton Chaves and the company’s Counsel on Exploration and Development Law Richard Aguirre.
Present also was Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Manager, Petroleum Division, Newell Dennison.
The agency said Dennison recalled the interest displayed by Exxon in developing Guyana’s offshore drilling potential and noted that the company is seeking to complete its preparatory work to “hit the ground running” following the resolution of the dispute between Guyana and Suriname.
Exxon, GINA said, is one of several international companies which have invested significantly in oil exploration locally.
Other companies include the Canadian firm CGX ON Energy, United States-based Groundstar Resources and SADHNA of Trinidad and Tobago.
GINA recently said that with an award in the arbitration between Guyana and Suriname over the maritime boundary of the two countries to be announced shortly by the Hamburg-based United Nations International Arbitral Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, discussions are being held with oil stakeholders on resumption of exploration activities.