Opposition demands better deal from oil for Guyanese

As ExxonMobil and partners continue drilling for oil and gas, last week’s find placed wealth to the disposal of the nation never imagined. The Opposition, A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), is upping its call for Guyanese to get a better deal. The coalition also wants Government to fully disclose the projected combined cash flow for the existing and approved developments (from Liza to Uaru). This information, the APNU+AFC said, would arm citizens with the knowledge of the extent and rate of which Exxon is expected to recoup its investments, and has serious implications for getting more revenues not just from higher production, but through an increase in profit oil.

In a statement last Friday, the APNU+AFC said Exxon’s new oil find Thursday in the Stabroek Block supports the call for the nation to be updated on the amount of discovered oil reserves.   Since April 2022, eight announcements of oil discovery have been made with no update on the Stabroek Block reserves. And according to the Opposition it matters not whether Exxon is keeping Government in the dark or Government is keeping Guyanese in the dark, the lack of transparency is totally disrespectful and unacceptable.

Issuing a reminder that Guyana’s natural resources belong to the people of Guyana, the Opposition cited the Preamble in the country’s Constitution that declared an obligation on citizens  “to protect our natural environment and endowment.” Citizens are impeded in performing this duty if vital information on their oil resources is denied them, the Opposition warned.

Furthermore, under the APNU+AFC Coalition government, Guyana in 2017 was officially accepted as an implementing country under the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI). One of its cornerstone principles speaks to “the importance of transparency by governments and companies in the extractive industries and the need to enhance public financial management and accountability.” We therefore demand full compliance with our constitution, relevant laws, and the principles of the EITI. We demand full respect of our expectations and rights.

Restating earlier position on the oil and gas issue the coalition noted the following:

“The Guyanese public should take note of recent statements by VP Jagdeo and President of Exxon Guyana Alistair Routledge to the effect that Guyana’s share of oil revenues is projected to increase substantially in the next few years as the company recoups more and more of its investments. To put this in technical terms: the profit oil to cost oil ratio of 25 – 75% will shift towards greater profit oil.

“We welcome this news but wish to strongly advise as follows. The PPP government, in its remaining time in office during this tenure, must ensure this projection materializes to the fullest extent possible. It must therefore not rush to approve new oil projects in the Stabroek Block, which would drive up cost-oil and thereby deny Guyana the chance to acquire a greater share of revenues.”

“Clearly, to make such projections, the company and the government must have relied on combined cash flow figures for, at least, the first five oil projects. This information should be released to the public forthwith. While demands for a better contract focus on the royalty and ring-fencing aspects, the Opposition said Guyana must also target greater profit oil to extract a larger proportion of  revenues. Such an approach, however, requires a more judicious oil extraction policy, one which is absent today, but one which the next coalition government has pledged to finalise with Exxon.”

Guyana must and can get a better oil deal in the Stabroek Block the Opposition stated, making known it shares the public frustration that oil revenues are not meeting the people.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) condemned the oil contracts signed by the coalition government and campaigned to renegotiate it. Inspite of support from civil society and coalition to renegotiate the contract the has not acted on its campaign commitment.