Guyana Puts Oil Auctions On Hold To Better Oversee Energy Boom

Guyana has put planned oil auctions on hold as the impoverished South American country works to establish a Department of Energy to oversee the energy boom, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said on Sept. 24.

Since 1999, Guyana has awarded a group led by Exxon Mobil Corp hundreds of oil blocks along Guyana’s maritime borders with Venezuela and Suriname. Their finds are turning Guyana, a country with no history of oil production and relaxed energy regulation, into one of Latin America’s hottest prospects for oil investments.