Cybele Energy has finalised a petroleum sharing agreement with the government of Guyana to advance the exploration of shallow-water Block S7, located offshore the Stabroek region.
The contract was signed on Tuesday between Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat and the chief executive of Cybele Energy Beatrice Mensah-Tayui during the launch of the fifth annual Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo in Georgetown.
“We are going to sign another production agreement with one of the other companies that would have been awarded a shallow block during the last bid round,” Bharrat said the previous Friday.
“Cybele has really advanced the negotiation with us to a stage where we would have finalised the agreement with them…they will be bringing a partner from one of the major operators from Nigeria (Liberty Petroleum Corporation) as their operator.”
Local source OilNOW reported earlier on Sunday that this will be the second block awarded from the country’s first competitive offshore auction, after a joint venture including TotalEnergies, Qatar Energy, and Petronas signed a PSA for the S4 shallow-water concession.
The round was conducted primarily to increase the country’s oil production and reduce the excessive control of an ExxonMobil-led consortium over the sector.
It was reported that the ceremony will be held at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre in Georgetown, where the government will issue the offshore oil and gas block to Cybele Energy.
The development aligns with President Irfaan Ali’s earlier statement in which he told citizens to expect another major agreement before the end of this year.
Two years ago, the Ghana-based company was awarded the offshore block alongside America’s Liberty Petroleum Corporation, following Guyana’s December 2022 tender that attracted bids for eight out of 14 blocks spanning shallow waters and deep-water terrain.
The bidding process was postponed repeatedly to provide more time for interested parties to evaluate the blocks’ data.
In October 2024, production sharing contracts for five of those blocks were said to have been reached between the Guyanese government and six contractors.
These contractors included Cybele Energy, Delcorp, International Group Investment (a Nigerian group that won blocks S5 and 10), Petronas, Qatar Energy, and TotalEnergies.
Cybele ranks among the new entrants into Guyana’s burgeoning oil industry, alongside big and early players like ExxonMobil, Cnooc, and Chevron.
Bharrat noted that most of the shallow-water blocks auctioned in 2022 average 2,000 square kilometres.
According to the country’s fiscal regime, new PSAs attract the payment of a $15m signature bonus, a 10% royalty, as well as a 10% corporate tax.
The cost recovery ceiling is now capped at 65% in a given year, while profits are shared 50/50 between companies and the government.
Cybele Energy is a privately owned Ghanaian company founded by Beatrice Mensah-Tayui in 2012.
Back in Ghana, the company is partnering with Power China to undertake the rehabilitation, expansion, and distribution of a water treatment plant in the Eastern Region.
Just last month, the government of Ghana began proceedings to take over the assets belonging to Ghana’s leading but corruption-ridden indigenous player, Springfield Group, as the country battles falling oil production.