Absence of ring-fencing in the PSA 2016 has permitted oil companies to subtract unlimited arbitrary capital recovery charges from the sale of crude oil

The 2016 Petroleum Sharing Agreement does not contain any Article on ring-fencing. Does this omission give the oil companies the rights to do just as they please? There is no Amendment or addendum that permits the oil companies to subtract unlimited exploration and drilling costs from the extraction and sales of crude oil. The 2016…

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In 2024 the government forwent about US$5,250 per Guyanese because of a lack of Ring-Fencing

As of August 2025, there are now 4 deepwater oil operations in production, altogether capable of pumping 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) a day, or US$1.8 billion in oil revenue per month, at today’s oil prices. There have been repeated calls for these projects to be ring-fenced. To quote Christopher Ram’s definition of Ring-Fencing,…

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The scale of Closed Areas Committee economic rent redirected away from GGMC could be beyond our imagination

Among the disclosures which ‘top miner’ Azeem ‘Junior’ Baksh made to journalist Travis Chase on 27 March 2025, and aired on 12 August 2025, (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3980217925561620) were his interactions pertaining to the Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Closed Areas Committee. ‘Closed Areas’ refer to lands hitherto held under large-scale Prospecting Licences that are progressively released by…

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Are members of the GGDMA providing money, security and bodyguards ‘free of charge’ to the PPP?

On 27 August 2023, the Guyana Chronicle reported on a Guyana Gold & Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) awards ceremony: ‘Among the distinguished awardees were: … Gold Target Export – Recognized as the leader among Top Gold Traders’. One of the photographs featured in the Guyana Chronicle report was of Azeem Baksh, of Gold Target Export,…

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The pattern of Exxon’s inflated expenditures should trigger immediate investigation by the next government

On July 2nd, 2025, Stabroek News published a letter from the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) disputing Chris Ram’s assertion that the 2024 financials for the Stabroek Block consortium (consisting of EMGL, HESS Guyana, and CNOOC Guyana) represent “a fundamental distortion that demands immediate investigation, attention, transparency and…

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Four years have passed and the government is yet to release the oil companies’ tax certificates it promised

In Canada, it is estimated that the average family pays 42% of their income in taxes (see https://tinyurl.com/bdapxsrt). Corporations also pay taxes which range across the provinces, but in large provinces like Ontario, the corporate rate works out to about 23.5%. People in Canada receive significant benefits from taxes, such as unemployment insurance, subsidized dental care…

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Some questions that Alastair Campbell should have asked the President

Alastair Campbell, co-host of the political podcast The Rest is Politics, asked in the new episode of Leading—featuring President Irfaan Ali – some important questions about the country’s low-carbon strategy, management of the sovereign wealth fund (including the Norway model), corruption in the wake of the oil boom, and Guyana’s position on the Venezuelan border…

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