TotalEnergies and Exxon, two prominent supermajors in the energy sector, have participated in a recent tender for several shallow-water oil and gas blocks located offshore Guyana. The tender, which encompassed 11 shallow-water blocks and three deepwater blocks, saw both companies submitting bids, as confirmed by a statement from the Guyana government, as reported by Reuters.

TotalEnergies led a consortium consisting of Qatar Energy and Petronas, Malaysia's state oil company, in their bid for one of the blocks. Meanwhile, Exxon, alongside its partners Hess and CNOOC, pursued exploration activities in the region, tapping into an estimated 11 billion barrels of reserves thus far.

The decision to launch the tender earlier this year was driven by the Guyanese government's desire to optimize the returns from its oil resources, spurred by concerns over the potential impact of the ongoing energy transition on hydrocarbon demand.

Moreover, the government of Guyana recently revised the revenue-sharing terms for companies involved in the exploitation of its natural resources. However, the updated terms were met with resistance from Exxon, with the head of the company's operations in Guyana expressing dissatisfaction with the terms of the new production-sharing agreement (PSA), deeming them inadequate.

Under the revised PSA, the royalty rate has been raised from 2% to 10%, the profit tax rate from 12.5% to 17.5%, and a new corporate tax rate of 10% has been introduced. It is important to note that these revised terms will only apply to new projects and will not impact ongoing projects, such as the development led by Exxon in the Stabroek Block.

Guyana's Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo revealed that, apart from Exxon, no other bidder raised objections to the terms of the revised agreement. He emphasized that if Exxon's demands were deemed excessive, the government would not proceed with the signing of the agreement.