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# Rupununi Villages Refused an Onshore Drilling Proposal. Guyana's Village-Consent Law Covers Minerals, and Minerals Exclude Petroleum.
- URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/rupununi-villages-refuse-cataleya-takatu-drilling-consent-law-petroleum-2026/
- Published: 2026-11-11T13:16:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-11T13:16:53.000Z
- Description: Cataleya Petroleum Inc. put an onshore drilling proposal to Nappi and surrounding Region Nine villages on 6 November 2026 and was refused. The Amerindian Act requires two-thirds village consent for mining, and the Mining Act definition of mineral it relies on excludes petroleum.
- Author: Theon Alleyne
- Tags: Guyana, Energy, Extractives, Amerindian Act, Business, Beat: extractives-sovereign-wealth, MSME: indirect

**Quick summary:** Cataleya Petroleum Inc. put an onshore drilling proposal to Nappi and surrounding Region Nine villages on 6 November 2026 and was refused. The Amerindian Act requires two-thirds village consent for mining, and the Mining Act definition of mineral it relies on excludes petroleum.

By LCN Business Desk

Cataleya Petroleum Inc. presented its onshore oil and gas plans at Nappi, in Region Nine, on 6 November 2026, with a translator interpreting into an Indigenous language. [Kaieteur News reported](https://kaieteurnewsonline.com/2026/11/10/our-lands-are-not-for-oil-region-nine-villages-reject-drilling-proposal-by-cataleya/?ref=lacaribenanews.com) that the villages refused, and quoted a resident saying three had said no.

**Michael Williams**, chairman of the **North Rupununi District Development Board**, which he said represents 20 villages and more than 8,000 residents, stated the board's position: "we give a no-no to this."

## Does a village refusal stop an onshore petroleum project in Guyana?

Not under the Amerindian Act. Section 48 of that Act binds a miner, and an operator drilling for oil is not one.

| Instrument            | Provision   | What it says                                                                                                                                                                        |
| --------------------- | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Amerindian Act 2006   | s.48(1)(g)  | A **miner** carrying out **mining activities** on Village lands must "obtain the consent of at least two-thirds of those present and entitled to vote at a Village general meeting" |
| Amerindian Act 2006   | definitions | "mining activities" includes "exploration, prospecting, drilling, mining, extracting and appropriating any **mineral**"; "mineral" takes its meaning from the Mining Act            |
| Mining Act Cap. 65:01 | definitions | "mineral" includes ore, metal, precious stone and radio-active mineral, "but **does not include water or petroleum**"                                                               |
| Mining Act Cap. 65:01 | s.12(1)     | "The provisions of this Act shall not apply to the prospecting for or production of petroleum"                                                                                      |

Sources: Amerindian Act No. 6 of 2006; Mining Act Chapter 65:01\. Quotations are from the Acts as published.

Section 48 therefore does not engage, and nor does section 50, which lets a minister override a refused village consent in large-scale mining by declaring the work to be in the public interest. On the public record this newspaper can find, no Guyanese court has applied section 48 to petroleum. The leading case on that section, Chinese Landing, concerns mining.

That consent regime is in use for minerals. On 2 November [the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission published the mining licences it issued on Amerindian titled lands, three in 2023 and one in 2024, and certified that none issued without an agreement reached under free, prior and informed consent](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-ggmc-fpic-four-licences-amerindian-land-consent-2026/). Two were quarry and aggregate permits and two were prospecting licences over rare earths.

## What does the law give a landholder instead?

The petroleum statute gives a right to compensation for damage, not a right to refuse the work.

The **Petroleum Activities Act No. 17 of 2023**, published in the Official Gazette Extraordinary of 16 August 2023 as number 274 of 2023, replaced the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act and the Petroleum (Production) Act, and applies one licensing regime to onshore and offshore work alike. Its section 83 makes a licensee liable to pay fair and reasonable compensation where exploration or production damages a parcel of land in the licence area, the interest of the lawful occupier, or any cultivation or building on it. The amount is agreed between the licensee and the person entitled to it, and where no agreement is reached, a court of competent jurisdiction determines it.

## Has any licence been issued over the Takatu Block?

No. The Ministry of Natural Resources' own register of the block carries no licence of any kind.

The state's register of petroleum blocks lists Takatu as an onshore concession and leaves every licensing field empty. No petroleum agreement, no prospective licence, no preparation period, no effective date, no production licence, no amendments, no current licensing phase. Its acreage for the block, initial, relinquished and current, is zero.

The same register records four wells already drilled on Takatu, three exploration and one production.

**Vickram Bharrat**, Minister of Natural Resources, described the sequence to Kaieteur News in March: "They were asked to speak with the people first then apply." On that account the consultation now under way precedes an application that has not yet been made.

## What has the company committed to, and what is it worth?

Its own process document puts consent first, as a voluntary undertaking rather than a statutory test.

Cataleya Petroleum's five stated steps run in order: share information and seek free, prior and informed consent; seek approval from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Natural Resources; synthesise and reprocess historical seismic data and test well safety; shoot 3D seismic or aero surveys; drill exploration wells.

The company describes the Takatu Project as an effort to establish whether oil found in the Rupununi in the 1980s can be produced safely with current technology, and has offered investment in the region, employment for skilled residents, local content, skills training, community projects and revenue to the country if production begins. No figure is attached to any of those undertakings.

Williams told the newspaper the February meeting at Karasabai was intended to "buy the people to say yes", and said of the region's readiness, "Do we have the capacity? I don't see it." He said the November meeting was the first of three planned engagements, with more to come in North and South Rupununi.

## Who is behind the onshore proposal?

Two of its three named founders are the only two directors of the parent of a company that holds half of an offshore Guyana licence.

Kaieteur News named Cataleya Petroleum Inc.'s founders as **Ryan Pereira**, **Michael Cawood** and **Ryan Ramjit**, and gave the year of founding as 2025.

Corporations Canada records **Cataleya Energy Corporation** as an active federal corporation, number 1015492-0, incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and dated 21 March 2017, with its registered office care of Wildeboer Dellelce LLP in Toronto. The registry lists exactly two directors: Michael Cawood and Ryan Pereira.

**Westmount Energy Limited**, which is quoted on AIM, describes that company in its own accounts as "the parent company of CEL", meaning **Cataleya Energy Limited**, the Guyanese company formerly called Ratio Energy Limited. That company is already on Guyana's local content register: [the Ministry named eleven whose local content plans were approved on 19 October 2022, Cataleya Energy among them](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-local-content-supplier-payment-30-45-days-master-plans-2026/). Those accounts record Westmount holding 474,816 common shares, about 4.13 per cent of the issued shares in the parent.

|                              | Offshore                                               | Onshore                           |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------- |
| Company                      | Cataleya Energy Limited, formerly Ratio Energy Limited | Cataleya Petroleum Inc.           |
| Acreage                      | Kaieteur Block, 50 per cent                            | Takatu Block, no licence recorded |
| Parent                       | Cataleya Energy Corporation, Canada                    | None identified                   |
| The two names common to both | Ryan Pereira, Michael Cawood                           | Ryan Pereira, Michael Cawood      |

Sources: Corporations Canada; Westmount Energy Limited; Kaieteur News, 10 November 2026.

Hess raised its working interest in the Kaieteur Block from 15 to 20 per cent in May 2021 through a farm-down by Cataleya Energy Limited, and in September 2023 ExxonMobil and Hess both withdrew from the block and returned their participating interests, leaving Cataleya Energy Limited and Ratio Guyana holding 50 per cent each.

On the public record this newspaper can find, there is no corporate link between Cataleya Petroleum Inc. and either the Canadian parent or its Guyanese subsidiary: no shareholding, no subsidiary relationship, no common control. The connection is through the two individuals.

## What does this mean for onshore investment in Region Nine?

A licence would be worked in country the board speaks for, with seismic crews, access roads and camps, against a body that says its position will not change.

Region Nine is where the state has been asking private capital to go. [Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Susan Rodrigues told a Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association panel on 13 October 2026 that oil and gas will not deliver prosperity alone, and said she is baffled that more private investment is not going to Lethem](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-rodrigues-lethem-investment-oil-will-not-take-us-there-2026/), the Region Nine township on the Brazil border. Twenty-four days later a privately owned company proposing to spend in Region Nine was refused by the communities nearest its site.

The state is spending in the same region. [Prime Minister Mark Phillips commissioned solar mini-grids at Katoonarib, Potarinau and Shulinab on 23 October 2026, 129 kW of generation and 582 kWh of storage for about G$110 million, with the power routed to public buildings](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-region-9-solar-mini-grids-business-diesel-three-times-2026/). On the forest, [Amerindian titled lands and extensions are 12.7 per cent of Guyana's forested area, with the villages' revenue share deliberately set above that at 15 per cent](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-carbon-credits-minimum-prices-2030-settled-price-never-published-2026/).

## Key figures

\- **Two-thirds.** The share of those present and entitled to vote at a Village general meeting whose consent a miner must obtain under section 48(1)(g) of the Amerindian Act 2006\. It does not apply to petroleum. - **20 villages and over 8,000 residents.** What Michael Williams said the North Rupununi District Development Board represents. - **6 November 2026.** The date of the Nappi meeting at which the plans were presented. - **28 February 2026.** The date of the earlier meeting at Karasabai. - **Zero.** Initial, relinquished and current contract acreage recorded for the Takatu Block on the Ministry of Natural Resources register, which also leaves every licensing date blank. - **Four.** Wells already drilled on the Takatu Block according to that same register, three exploration and one production. - **2025.** The year Cataleya Petroleum Inc. was founded, by Ryan Pereira, Michael Cawood and Ryan Ramjit. - **No. 17 of 2023.** The Petroleum Activities Act, which replaced the 1986 petroleum statute and applies the same licensing regime onshore and offshore. - **Two of three.** The named founders of Cataleya Petroleum Inc. who are also the only two directors of Cataleya Energy Corporation, the Canadian parent of Cataleya Energy Limited. Source: Corporations Canada; Kaieteur News. - **50 per cent.** Cataleya Energy Limited's participating interest in the offshore Kaieteur Block, after ExxonMobil and Hess withdrew in September 2023\. Source: Westmount Energy Limited accounts to 30 June 2025\. - **4.13 per cent.** Westmount Energy Limited's holding in Cataleya Energy Corporation at 30 June 2025, being 474,816 common shares.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Does the Amerindian Act require village consent for oil drilling in Guyana?

No. Section 48 of the Amerindian Act 2006 requires a miner to obtain the consent of at least two-thirds of those present and entitled to vote at a Village general meeting before carrying out mining activities on Village lands. The Act defines mining activities by reference to any mineral, and takes the meaning of mineral from the Mining Act, which states that mineral "does not include water or petroleum". Section 12(1) of the Mining Act further provides that the Act does not apply to prospecting for or production of petroleum.

### What rights does a community have where onshore petroleum work is licensed?

Under section 83 of the Petroleum Activities Act No. 17 of 2023, a licensee is liable to pay fair and reasonable compensation where exploration or production operations damage a parcel of land in the licence area, the interest of the lawful occupier, or any cultivation or building on it. The sum is settled by agreement, or by a court of competent jurisdiction where the parties do not agree.

### Does Cataleya Petroleum hold a licence for the Takatu Block?

The Ministry of Natural Resources' Petroleum Management Programme register for the Takatu Block records no petroleum agreement, no prospective licence, no effective date and no current licensing phase, and gives all acreage figures as zero. Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat said in March 2026 that the company was asked to speak with residents first and then apply.

### What did the villages decide, and how?

Kaieteur News reported that Nappi and surrounding communities rejected the proposal, quoting a resident who said three villages had said no. The newspaper did not name them, and reported the decision through a citizen's social media post rather than a documented vote. Michael Williams, chairman of the North Rupununi District Development Board, stated the board's refusal separately.

### Is this the same Cataleya that holds offshore acreage in Guyana?

They are different companies with two principals in common. Cataleya Energy Limited, formerly Ratio Energy Limited, holds 50 per cent of the offshore Kaieteur Block, and its parent is Cataleya Energy Corporation of Canada. Cataleya Petroleum Inc. was founded in 2025 and is pursuing the onshore Takatu Block. Corporations Canada lists the parent's only two directors as Michael Cawood and Ryan Pereira, and Kaieteur News names both among Cataleya Petroleum Inc.'s three founders. On the public record this newspaper can find, there is no corporate link between the onshore company and either of the others.

### The entities

- **Cataleya Petroleum Inc.** is a Guyanese company founded in 2025 by Ryan Pereira, Michael Cawood and Ryan Ramjit, proposing onshore exploration in the Takatu Block.
- **Cataleya Energy Limited** is a separate Guyanese company, formerly Ratio Energy Limited, holding 50 per cent of the offshore Kaieteur Block.
- **Cataleya Energy Corporation** is the Canadian federal corporation that Westmount Energy Limited describes as Cataleya Energy Limited's parent. Its two directors are Michael Cawood and Ryan Pereira.
- **Westmount Energy Limited** is an AIM-quoted company holding about 4.13 per cent of Cataleya Energy Corporation as at 30 June 2025.
- **Ryan Pereira**, **Michael Cawood** and **Ryan Ramjit** are the three founders of Cataleya Petroleum Inc. named by Kaieteur News. The first two are the two directors of Cataleya Energy Corporation.
- **North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB)** is the community body its chairman says represents 20 villages and over 8,000 residents in Region Nine.
- **Michael Williams** is chairman of the North Rupununi District Development Board.
- **Vickram Bharrat** is Guyana's Minister of Natural Resources.
- **Amerindian Act 2006** is the statute governing Amerindian villages, their lands and their councils, including the consent regime for mining.
- **Mining Act Chapter 65:01** is Guyana's mining statute, whose definition of mineral the Amerindian Act adopts.
- **Petroleum Activities Act No. 17 of 2023** is the statute governing petroleum licensing onshore and offshore, replacing the 1986 Act.
- **Petroleum Management Programme** is the Ministry of Natural Resources unit that publishes Guyana's block register.
- **Takatu Block** is the onshore concession in the North Rupununi that the proposal concerns.
- **Nappi** and **Karasabai** are Region Nine villages where the company held meetings.