The delay is in response to industry reaction to draft terms released last year and to ongoing work on a regulatory framework that will guide development of the blocks, Guyana's Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement.
Guyana originally had hoped to award contracts under new financial terms by the end of next month for up to three deepwater and 11 shallow-water blocks.
The new financial terms are designed to significantly increase the government's take from its booming oil output now controlled by one group.
The auction "continues to receive strong global interest and the government has benefited from insightful feedback" on the proposed production sharing agreement terms, it said. Officials have said they have receive interest from international and national oil companies.
The competitive auction would be the first since a consortium of Exxon Mobil , Hess Corp and CNOOC Ltd discovered 11 billion barrels of oil.
This month, the group began installing a third offshore
production vessel that could begin pumping oil later this month.
The group aims to increase its daily oil production to some
600,000 barrels next year.
(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Alexander Smith)
