HOUSTON Guyana's cabinet has approved a bid for an offshore oil block by a consortium including QatarEnergy, TotalEnergies and Malaysian state oil firm Petronas, a Guyana minister said on Wednesday.

The group's bid for shallow water block S-4 is being negotiated with Guyana's energy ministry, Minister of Public Works Deodat Indar said at the Offshore Technology Conference.

Guyana, home of the largest oil discoveries in nearly a decade, put 14 offshore block on offer last September in its first competitive auction. An Exxon Mobil-led group has announced discoveries of more than 11 billion barrels of recoverable resources since 2015.

The QatarEnergy, TotalEnergies and Petronas group were among the short-list of bidders previously announced. Guyana has not yet awarded any of the blocks.

  - Reuters