The Ministry of Natural Resources confirmed that Exxon, Hess
and China's CNOOC had bid as a consortium, while a government document also
listed a consortium of TotalEnergies, Qatar Energy and Malaysia's Petronas as a
bidder.
A consortium formed by Delcorp, Watad Energy and Arabian
Drillers and another by Liberty Petroleum and Cybele Energy also bid, as did a
consortium of International Group Investment and Montego Energy, the document
showed. Sispro submitted an offer by itself.
"We went to this market with 14 blocks and we got
response for eight blocks. We are very happy," said President Irfaan Ali
during an event in Washington organized by the Inter-American Dialogue on
Wednesday, adding many countries were not getting responses to oil auctions in
the current market.
Exxon, Hess and TotalEnergies did not immediately reply to
requests for comment.
Exxon already has productive oil projects in Guyana.
The South American country wants to quickly expand its oil
industry and recruit a wider range of developers to counterbalance an Exxon-led
consortium that controls all production.
Guyana is currently producing and exporting about 380,000
barrels per day (bpd) or equivalent of crude and gas, making it Latin America's
seventh-largest producer. The Exxon consortium aims at reaching 1.2 million bpd
of output by 2027.
TotalEnergies said on Wednesday it will begin studies for
developing a large oil project in neighboring Suriname's most promising
offshore area, adjacent to Exxon's Guyanese Stabroek block, amid a visit by its
CEO Patrick Pouyanne to the country.
Guyana has repeatedly delayed the 14-block tender.