Even when looked at in the best light, Exxon’s Guyana Country Head, Mr. Alistair Routledge is in bad shape. It seems to get worse by the development, which follows on the heels of one another. I feel for the man, for I once thought highly of him, despite my own agitations of how he held the Exxon flag high to the last step and final breath. Fortunately, or otherwise, for Guyanese, Mr. Routledge has now meandered into that dark place called damaged goods. I wish it weren’t so.
Attorney-at-law and Chartered Accountant, Chris Ram had his say about how Mr. Routledge has handled this issue of profits and taxes. Damning, it was. The Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN), a US-based 501© entity has had its say, more than a few of such, with the negatives putting Mr. Routledge’s representations under the microscope, and leaving them looking wormy and lacking in reliability. There are some stronger words that apply, but I leave matters there, satisfied that the point has been made. The latest from OGGN came from one of its members, Dr. C. Kenrick Hunte, on October 24th, and it left the Exxon Guyana Country Supremo in a rather ragged state (See “Profit lies? OGGN calls out Exxon Country Manager for misleading profit claims”, KN October 24, 2025). Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran also had his say in his SN Accountability Watch column on the same disputed tax issue and, once again, Exxon was exposed, which meant that Mr. Routledge’s statements get more shredded by the hour. I myself had dipped a toe or two on different occasions in the tax receipt business and, before that, on the matter of the Exxon-led consortium profits and Guyana’s equivalent 50 percent share being so different, as in unequal. Now all these issues are converging and when measured against Mr. Routledge’s he looks mostly skimpy when closely scrutinized.
There were no profits in those years, said the man. But there is the evidence of his company’s own financials, and the global media celebrations of the bonanza that Exxon was reaping from Guyana’s oil. There is the hedged language that has now become characteristic of this veteran Exxon hand. It is that studiously careful parsing that prompts watching Guyanese to ponder what is being masked through nuanced verbiage, what is being withheld, and what does all this do to jeopardize Guyana’s interests. I am reluctant to say it, but Mr. Routledge has taken some punishing body blows from which only the most extraordinary of resilient men can recover. Most candidly, Mr. Routledge does not strike me as having that type of resilience. He may have had at some time in the past, but the passage of time has eroded that strength, and left him vulnerable. He has now become a liability to Exxon. At least, that is my position about his presence in Guyana.
The longer that Mr. Routledge remains as Country Head in Guyana, the more there is the risk that he mutates into a prime target, a bigger lame duck. For his own sanity, and recognizing the writing on the wall, what would be the best thing for his name, if Mr. Alistair Routledge himself is the one who initiates the conversations with Exxon’s High Command in Spring, Texas. That is, if the execs at HQ aren’t already there. That his utility in Guyana is on a steeply downward trajectory, that his time in Guyana is up, and that there should be a changing of the guard at the top. I think that this would be the best for all parties in Guyana’s oil patch.
I am sorry to say it early, most unambiguously. Mr. Routledge should be recalled. Mr. Routledge should go. The few Guyanese who possess the integrity and intrepidity to speak publicly, may or may not agree. It matters not. For, regrettably, I have absorbed how this American has brought upon his head, through one misstep after another, what is tantamount to a no confidence motion. The missteps are not relative to basic or routine issues, but goes to the heart of the very fundamentals of Exxon’s presence in this country. What kind of partner is it? Why did there have to be this slippery business involving profits, taxes and receipts? And, why are Guyanese still being sold on the nobility of the Exxon-Guyana partnership? Alistair Routledge is the Exxon man in charge; he is an Exxon man through and through, even when the indefensible and the inexplicable were on the table. It is what has drowned him in the predicaments and contradictions that now rage. Goodbye and god speed, Mr. Routledge. It’s best.
