Int’l firms submit bids to review Yellowtail field development plan

As the government commences its search for a consultant to review the Yellowtail Field Development Plan (FDP), 11 international firms have tendered bids to secure the project.

Details from a recent tender opening at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) show the following bids: Infinity Services and X Well Mexico (US$617,500); Orwell Offshore (US$671,650); Endeavour Management (US$598,934); Future Energy Partners Limited (US$901,482); MSI International (US$817,761); IHS Global Incorporated (US$1,493,502); Sun Stone Energy Advisory Service (US$785,040); Bay Phase (US$423,360); RPS Energy Consultants Limited (US$494,000); Sproule (US$661,440); and Strat Oil Energy Services (US$324,080).

In the Requests for Proposals (RFP) issued on Thursday, the Natural Resources Ministry outlined the purposes of the project, which are to:

• Conduct an in-depth review of the Yellowtail FDP, which includes all supporting and reference documentation, along with the related environmental and social impact assessments (ESIA) submitted by the Licencees;

• Prepare a report setting out the opinions formed in the evaluation of the FDP and ESIA, addressing, at minimum, compliance or non-compliance with the requirements of the existing legislative and contractual framework, particularly the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 1986 and the Environmental Protection Act 1996, the Petroleum Agreement and international best practices and industry standards including any deficiencies, unresolved issues and areas of additional assessments or technical analysis that the GoG should request from the Licencees before making a determination on the FDP;

• Support the MNR’s engagements and information exchanges with the Licencees;

• Document the field development review process and outcomes, including references to international best practices and industry standards, in a manner and format to support future reference for similar review exercises and overall improvement of the FDP review process;

• Support the MNR in drafting the Yellowtail Petroleum Production Licence, among other critical objectives.

The RFP went on to say that the government will contract the bidder whose tender is determined to be substantially responsive to the bidding documents, and who offered the lowest evaluated bid price, provided that this bidder has been determined to be eligible and has met the minimum qualification score of 70 points in accordance with the criteria.

Bidders’ proposals will be evaluated and ranked on their merit, in accordance with the evaluation criteria outlined in the supplementary information and, if selected, could eventually form the basis for negotiations and, ultimately, a contract between the firm and the procuring entity. It is anticipated that contract negotiations with the selected firm would commence around February 1, 2022 and the assignment, around February 7, 2022.

Negotiations will be held with the firm or consultant only if the technical proposal attains the required minimum score. Bidders must be prepared to furnish the detailed cost break-down and other clarifications to the proposals submitted by the bidder, as may be required to adjudge the reasonableness of price proposals.

Yellowtail is situated 126 miles offshore Guyana, where ExxonMobil made its 13th discovery in the Stabroek block. Its initial production phase is scheduled to commence in 2025, with optimum production capacity of 250,000 barrels per day, and would continue for 20 years. The floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel is designed to have a storage capacity of two million barrels of oil. The proposed project could provide some 1,300 jobs across its four phases.

ExxonMobil has already received approval for three development projects in the Stabroek block, where it has made discoveries totalling over 10 billion oil equivalent barrels.