‘Don’t let Jagdeo approve 5th Exxon project without better terms’

Oct 09, 2022 News

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– Glenn Lall urges Guyanese to stand up against giveaway

Kaieteur News – Businessman and newspaper publisher, Glenn Lall has called on Guyanese to stand up against the PPP/C Government’s intention to approve the fifth project for ExxonMobil until the contract is amended to provide for ring-fencing, higher royalties and full liability coverage in the event of an oil spill.

These demands have been on the lips of all Guyanese who have been championing the cause of a better oil contract for Guyana, and Mr. Lall said that the time has come for citizens to take a stand.

In a special message shared on his social media platforms, Mr. Lall asked Guyanese when will they wake up to the reality of the plunder of the nation’s resources by foreigners aided by the country’s leaders.

He alluded to the signing of the Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between Guyana and ExxonMobil by former Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman.

Lall, who is also Publisher of the Kaieteur News, noted that Trotman had signed the contract against the backdrop of one billion barrels of proven oil resources in the Liza 1 and 2 fields. Since that time to now, the oil company has discovered 10 times more oil. The contract from the time it was made public has been pilloried for the meagre two percent royalty; the lack of ring-fencing provisions and a host of other things including the absence of full liability coverage in the event of an oil spill. The then opposition, the PPP/C, which is now in government led by Bharrat Jagdeo had decried the inadequacies in the contract and even promised to renegotiate it once it got into government. However, over two years since that party has taken the reins of government, the PPP/C administration has been staunchly defending keeping the PSA in place and has out-rightly declared that it will not renegotiate the contract, described by many as lopsided.

In his message, Mr. Lall said the whole world, including Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and President Irfaan Ali, agree that the contract is not good for Guyana and even though since the signing of the deal with Trotman Guyana has discovered more oil, “instead Jagdeo and President Irfaan Ali call Exxon back to the drawing board, they keep on approving more and more projects without correcting and getting better terms.”

“Jagdeo went ahead and approved Payara, the 3^rd project, and got not even a penny more for the nation. Jagdeo did not even correct the mistakes made in Liza 1 and 2 when he approved that 3^rd project. Months later, he went further and approved Yellowtail, the 4^th project, and again he got nothing for the starving Guyanese out of that project. The mistakes made in Liza 1, 2, 3, were not corrected, not even the guarantee Exxon parent company promised in Liza 1, 2 and 3 for full liability coverage in the event of an oil spill was not secured in the 4^th project he approved,” Mr. Lall explained.

 

He said both the US$20B 3rd and 4th projects were approved by Jagdeo without a proper and comprehensive expert review. “Again he did not heed the advice of experts to install ring-fencing provisions to prevent ExxonMobil from taking advantage on us with US billions, he did not even get the oil companies to pay the taxes on the oil they fetching away, something that every working Guyanese pays. Now he is gearing up to approve the 5^th project, giving the oil companies the biggest Christmas gift they would have ever had in their lifetime.”

Lall’s call for Guyana to demand more has been backed by numerous persons. Only recently, former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams said that given the amount of proven oil resources discovered, the call for a renegotiation of the lopsided deal is justified. Dr. Adams, during an online interview with Globespan 24×7 recently, told viewers that not only has Guyana uncovered more riches subsequent to the agreement being signed, but exploration activities are still ongoing while government has turned its face against seeking more value for its resources. The former EPA Head is not convinced that the political excuse being used to not renegotiate the Exxon contract is valid. In fact, he is confident that Guyana can get a better deal now that it has discovered 10 billion more barrels of oil in the Stabroek Block, where Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), commonly referred to ExxonMobil Guyana is operating. He said that it is customary for changes in an environment to inform modifications to contracts in countries around the world.

According to him, “I have spent 30 years at the highest level of the US government and I negotiated (and) I evaluated contracts. That was part of my life and as a matter of fact that was a main part of my life, and I’m talking about the Exxons of the world. I have seen many contracts you can think about and changes are expected and the one thing that you always have a justification for changing a contract is when there is a major change.”

He went on to point out, “As a matter of fact, in every government contract we had, we had what was called a change control board. Every change that comes in, it goes to the board and then we figure out what to do with it in terms of the contract so all this stuff about sanctity is…all nonsense.” In addition to this, the former EPA boss highlighted the fact that modifications have already been made to the 2016 contract, which further shows the invalidity of government’s “sanctity of contracts” argument.  Dr. Adams said, “The full liability coverage that I put into the Permits that was a major change to the contract. The contract has said that they are gonna leave all liabilities to EEPGL, but EEPGL does not have any assets so I forced the full liability coverage so that was a major change.”

Political support  

Only on Friday last, during a news conference, the Alliance For Change explained that it believes renegotiating the agreement should not be approached in an isolated manner but the country’s leaders should hold hands on the matter. In response to a question by this publication, AFC’s Cathy Hughes said, “the renegotiation of the contract should be considered in the same spirit with which we work together – Opposition and Government, we work together on issues that have to do with our border and as you know, the border dispute and this is where we’ve said quite a few times that we are willing to support the Government in going to Exxon as Guyana – a unified Guyana – to look at how we renegotiate.”

Meanwhile, Leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan pointed out that the whopping 10 billion barrel increase in oil reserves in the rich Stabroek Block is more than enough reason to get the oil company back to the table. “We have indicated, and I publicly have indicated that yes, indeed (we can renegotiate) because we understand the changed circumstances but more than that, the PPP when it was in Opposition had said that our agreement was so rotten that they will renegotiate. Did they fool all of us here? It would appear so because they have an obligation, a bounding duty to go now and renegotiate with all that is happening,” Ramjattan told the media. He added that while the AFC has already made its position clear about changing the contract due to the changed circumstance, he does not believe that Jagdeo would be willing to move in this direction.

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