In a press release this past Saturday, the government admitted that the Stabroek Block contract is lopsided. The Department of Public Information article further states, “…with the passage of the local content legislation, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, said the law now recoups the benefits lost from the Exxon deal.” It is astounding that the…
Major Guyanese newspapers have been exposing numerous issues surrounding the oil contracts. One positive change, as a result of their relentless efforts, was having the Ministry of Natural Resources publish Guyana’s oil lift data. Additionally, it appears that the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) reviews have had some impact because a new website has appeared…
On the weekend the government released an article stating that the Stabroek Oil Block is not up for renegotiation. It cited a number of reasons for its position including the sanctity of contract, the stability clause and because Exxon lost US$22 billion last year. The article reads like a marketing campaign for why Guyana should…
Its Thanksgiving weekend in America, which kicks off the Christmas holiday season in the US. The US President is giving his citizens an early Christmas present by releasing oil from the US Strategic reserve to curtail the rise in gasoline prices and heating bills. US citizens can celebrate low unemployment levels and an economy that…
The government is promising to audit the US$9.5 billion in capital costs outside the audit window that is now closed. It hasn’t explained how it will enforce any discrepancies found given that the time frame to audit Liza 1 and Liza 2, the first 2 projects in the Stabroek block, have expired. But let’s not…
Imagine that you were lucky to be awarded a house lot. You hire a contractor company to fence off your plot of land and you intend to use them to build your house. But on review of the bill for the fencing, the numbers don’t add up. You will be outraged and will seek to…
Imagine if you drive your car to an Esso gas station and fill your tank with US$27.20 in gas. Then you decide to pay the cashier only US$20 for your gas and you walk out. The police would soon track you down for robbing the franchise owner of that Esso location. Hence, it is puzzling…
Guyana now has an oil purse of US$436 million dollars in a foreign bank that mysteriously sits untapped in a period of our greatest need. We are in the midst of a deadly pandemic; one the world hasn’t experienced since the Spanish Flu of 1918 that took an estimated 20 to 50 million lives. We…
