He says the government could have commanded much more favorable tax and royalty rates if the Canje and Kaieteur leases had been sold after Exxon’s Stabroek discovery was announced and not before. Liza Destiny FPSO started producing oil offshore Guyana in December 2020. Given the projected oil reserves, there will be lots left to recover under improved contract conditions. “One would have thought you would have gotten a better contract.”Trotman counters that the government’s overriding concern in the Exxon talks was finding “security in what it had.” That included getting an $18 million signing bonus that, Trotman says, “we believed we should use for … the prosecution of our case” against Venezuela to settle territorial claims.There was one hitch—a big one. It covered the 13,535-square-kilometer Kaieteur block, also adjacent to Stabroek.On May 7, then-Minister of Natural Resources Robert Persaud announced that Exxon had struck oil. "The conclusions are misleading in that they compare Guyana deep water with mature hydrocarbon-producing provinces which naturally have evolved fiscal frameworks reflecting maturity and lower risk profiles," Exxon spokesman Todd Spitler said of the report.Finance Minister Winston Jordan said Exxon's discovery of oil before the renegotiation of the original agreement - signed during PPP leadership in 1999 - was not the only factor that should be taken into account.The country has a century-long border dispute with neighboring Venezuela, and in 2013 Venezuela's navy seized a ship exploring for oil on behalf of U.S. oil company Anadarko. Furthermore, the government needs to demonstrate that it can put the oil revenues to the service of the Guyanese people and run the recently established sovereign wealth fund professionally and with profits. “We understand there are benefits to us and our partners, but we truly want this to benefit the country.”Bynoe takes a Goldilocks view of the whole affair. I would still say no.” Over time, he says, Guyana can “incrementally improve the conditions.”With that in mind, he says, it’s time to look forward. Its petroleum laws were written in the 1980s. After the Suriname quarrel was settled in 2007, Exxon began gathering data and conducting seismic imaging along the eastern reaches of Stabroek. It was 1999, and Jagdeo was heading the government. As for Guyana, the government estimates the Exxon deal will bring in $300 million in 2020, or about a third of the country’s entire tax revenue, and surge to $5 billion by 2025. In 2014 oil prices crashed, and its partner in Stabroek, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, pulled out. "We can compare today, tomorrow, about what we got and what we didn't get, but it seems we don't want to compare objective conditions," Jordan said in a late January interview.Global Witness said in its report it did not believe the Venezuela dispute "can be used to adequately justify the exploitative nature of Exxon's Stabroek deal. A report by a nonprofit watchdog group critical of Exxon Mobil Corp's oil contract with Guyana has rekindled a debate over whether the deal is too generous to the company, just a month before a crucial presidential election.The discovery of more than 8 billion barrels of oil and gas offshore Guyana by an Exxon-led consortium, which includes Hess Corp and China's CNOOC, will transform the economy of the poor South American country.With fewer than 800,000 inhabitants, the former British colony is seen as a test for whether oil revenue can spur sustainable development in a country lacking strong institutions.Global Witness' finding could boost the opposition People's Progressive Party's (PPP) contention that President David Granger's government was too generous in a 2016 contract re-negotiation with the consortium, which resulted in a 2% royalty and a 50% profit share for the state.The group had previously sent individuals named in the report summaries, and before publication Granger's allies sought to limit damage ahead of the March 2 election, which will decide which party oversees the first five years of an oil boom.
Cawood says his group took “no cash consideration” from Exxon for the stake in Kaieteur. “People don’t realize the timelines. It’s too early for that, says its director, Clive Thomas. Photographer: Natalie Keyssar for Bloomberg Markets Just not feasible or favorable at this point.As a Guyanese, I must suppress emotion and passion and sentiment on this. I would say no,” he says. And this may happen faster than we could imagine.Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:Enter your email address to follow and get all blog entriesGuyana News and news from Guyanese Associations worldwide
Guyana is to receive a two-percent royalty on gross earnings and 50 percent of the “profits” of the oil proceeds when production starts in 2020. It is now final. All the companies involved say they have acted entirely properly.In 2016, Exxon had a problem. Guyana is investigating oil leases at a rocky political moment.The Caribbean beats of reggae and soca ease into American hip-hop at a roadside bar in Georgetown, Guyana. And as I know (even while knowing Guyanese bury their heads in the mud and pretend and prefer ignorance), quarterly earnings are part of the bread and butter of corporate existence, Wall Street sentiment, hedge fund strategic visions, and shareholder expectations. Investors and shareholders are looking for returns; billions (US$) would have to be given up quarter over quarter, even if only on paper. “Sitting back and doing nothing can be the worst mistake they can make,” he says.Georgetown—its crumbling colonial buildings set amid canals built by the Dutch in the 18th century—resembles a developing-world Amsterdam that’s faded in the harsh sunlight. Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Distract them with something: a gnarled bone here, a ragged scrap there.