(OilNow) A draft agreement for the Payara development has been formulated and will be discussed today by a high-level team comprising individuals from ExxonMobil and the Department of Energy.

In August, the newly elected government in Guyana had engaged a team headed by former Premier of Alberta, Canada, Alison Redford QC, to review the work that was done by the previous administration in its assessment of the proposed deep-water project.

“The technical and legal teams from the Department of Energy, and Exxon, are meeting to discuss the draft agreement,” Vickram Bharrat, Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources (MNR), told OilNOW on Thursday.

MNR had said the review process headed by Ms. Redford would take on a multi-agency approach and would include the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and technical officers of the Petroleum Division “to ensure maximum benefits are derived for all Guyanese.”

The 220,000 bpd Payara Development is ExxonMobil’s third offshore project. It will utilize onshore infrastructure which includes shorebases, warehouses, storage and pipe yards, fabrication facilities, fuel supply facilities, and waste management facilities in Guyana.