Where is the proof?

Jul 28, 2017 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Facing a string of criticisms about their worldwide operations, ExxonMobil has gone on the offensive. The oil company has announced that it has found another massive well which will provide Guyana with another 500 million barrels of oil.
Guyanese are being asked to accept the latest fantastic find. But how do Guyanese know for sure that this discovery has been made? Are Guyanese petroleum experts on board the drilling platform? Have they confirmed the latest discovery? Or is this yet another case of Guyanese being asked to place absolute trust in whatever the ExxonMobil propaganda machinery churns out?
ExxonMobil is finding all of this oil in Guyana, yet it has decided not to go it alone when it comes to drilling. If all the wells are as good as Exxon claims it is, then why is Exxon sharing the risks.
ExxonMobil is in a partnership with Hess and with a Chinese company, both of which have substantial shares in their Guyanese operations. Why does ExxonMobil not go into it alone? It is not as if it is broke. Ten years ago, Exxon Mobil made 36 billion dollars – US dollars – in profits. So it is not as if the super company is short of capital. It can afford to finance the Guyana operations by itself. So just why if all of this oil is being found in Guyana’s waters, is Exxon in a joint investment with other companies?
There has been a more spectacular announcement this past week which dwarfs what the announced new oil find by Exxon and company. Fareed Zakaria, on his weekly CNN programme said that by 2020, America is going to become a major oil exporting nation. So where does this put Guyana, considering that oil production in the Stabroek bloc is due to commence in the same year.
Why would a leading American company undercut American economic interests by looking to produce oil outside of America when one considers that the Trump Administration is placing America first and boost production at home.
There is another fly in the ointment. We have not heard from CGX for a long time. One would have presumed that with the find made by Exxon, CGX which has concessions not far away from the Stabroek bloc, would have been stepping up its game in Guyana. We are not seeing that happen. So does CGX know something that Guyanese do not know?
There is one thing that the Guyanese people are aware of. It is that despite the promise of an oil boom in 2020, the Minister of Finance is speaking about conservatism. That really should be conserving, since conservatism carries ideological connotations to which no PNCR- dominated regime will subscribe.
The mistake that the APNU+AFC continues to make is that they believe that they are underestimating the strength of the company with which they are dealing. Exxon is no large company. It is stronger than most governments. It is a super company in its own right.
Exxon has all the data, all the facts and the best negotiating skills around. Who does Guyana have? Guyana, up to now, cannot publicly state who are its negotiators when dealing with Exxon. Yet it wants the public to accept all that Exxon is saying and which has not been verified by no local authority or any authority acting on behalf of the Guyanese people.
It is time for the Guyana government to hire international specialists from the non-western world to negotiate with Exxon Mobil. If at this stage Guyana is accepting what Exxon says, it may end up having to accept whatever Exxon decides to pay in revenues in the future.

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