Gov’t ramps up offshore surveillance, tanker tracking as petroleum budget increases – Min Bharrat

Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat says a significant increase in the 2026 allocation for the administration of the petroleum sector will be utilised to expand monitoring offshore, prepare for new projects, and strengthen local content and regulatory systems.

During the consideration of the budget estimates, Minister Bharrat explained that the allocation rose sharply from about $343 million to $900 million, largely due to the growing scale of operations offshore Guyana.

He told the Committee of Supply that part of the funds will go to the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), which has officers stationed on each Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.

“As I would have mentioned in my budget presentation, we have onboard each FPSO an officer from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources,” the minister said.

He explained that the role of the officers includes ensuring that crude offloading complies with established standards, monitoring the calibration of metering systems, and verifying the quality of crude produced and exported.

With a fifth FPSO expected in the second half of 2026, the minister said the allocation also caters for additional operational costs associated with expanded production.

A major portion of the funding, more than $500 million, has been set aside for demurrage costs, which arise when tankers remain alongside FPSOs longer than the allotted time for loading.

Minister Bharrat noted that while a tanker typically takes about 24 hours to load one million barrels of crude, an additional 12 hours is allocated to account for weather and offshore conditions. If this period is exceeded, costs may be incurred.

However, he said improved tracking systems and coordination with operators have significantly reduced such expenses in recent years.

“Through good management… we have managed to minimise the demurrage cost significantly,” he said, noting that unused funds in previous years were returned to the Consolidated Fund.

The funds will also help the Local Content Secretariat by continuing discussions to change laws and possibly broaden the types of services reserved for Guyanese businesses, and update participation goals.

Additionally, funds have been earmarked for subscriptions to international petroleum pricing and tanker-tracking services, advertising, and the review of future Field Development Plans (FDPs). The natural resources minister indicated that ExxonMobil has signalled the possibility of submitting an FDP for a proposed eighth project, known as Longtail.

The minister also addressed questions about the regulation of the sector, stating that Guyana continues to manage the industry effectively despite a relatively small technical team.

“We are quite comfortable that the sector is being managed competently by the team… a small, young, bright team that has been doing a wonderful job thus far,” he said.

He added that the petroleum unit currently comprises 38 staff members, a figure he contrasted with larger petroleum administrations in other producing countries.

Minister Bharrat said the government is also investing in seismic surveys and building a national data repository to support future exploration and bidding rounds, while maintaining that any consideration of onshore exploration would require extensive consultation, particularly in environmentally sensitive areas.

Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF) received more than US$2.4 billion in inflows in 2025, fueled by higher crude oil output and additional petroleum-related revenues, ending the year with a balance of US$3.25 billion.

260 crude oil lifts were conducted in 2025 from Guyana’s four producing Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels. Of the 260 lifts, 32 were undertaken on behalf of the Government of Guyana- six from the Liza Destiny FPSO, 11 from Liza Unity, 12 from Prosperity, and three from the One Guyana FPSO.

The minister stressed that as production increases and new projects come on stream, continued investment in oversight, data systems, and regulatory capacity remains essential to ensuring transparency, efficiency, and national benefit from the sector.