ExxonMobil contract’s preamble contradicts Minister’s statements on negotiations

ExxonMobil contract’s preamble contradicts Minister’s statements on negotiations – Chris Ram

Jan 07, 2018 ExxonMobil, News

Who really negotiated the contract with ExxonMobil on Guyana’s behalf? This question was answered before by Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman. However, Trotman’s answer does not support what is stated in the preamble of the contract as well as the content of other documents.
About two weeks ago, Trotman told the media that he had little or nothing to do with the renegotiation of the new Petroleum Agreement.
Trotman said, “I know there is a belief that Raphael Trotman sat in a room and negotiated this. I am a lawyer for 27 years standing; I have a Master’s Degree in which negotiations was one of the subjects I had to pass. I graduated with distinction, and I have been trained as a negotiator and mediator by Harvard Law School, but I did not take it upon myself to do so.
“The country in the past has relied on the technical staff of the GGMC…Mr Newell Dennison (Commissioner of GGMC) and his team were the principal negotiators (of the Exxon Petroleum Agreement),” he added.
Trotman said that he never proposed to be the negotiator of the contract for this country because for him to feel he could have done it alone would have been “foolish”. However, during negotiations he “did have a say in terms of where are we” and he also reported to Cabinet from time to time.
However, the contract states different and Attorney-at-law, Christopher Ram thinks that there needs to be a clear answer.
He said, “If one is to believe Mr. Trotman then it means that the Preamble to the Agreement is false and misleading. On the other hand, if the Preamble is accurate, then we have Mr. Trotman once again lying to the country.
Here is what paragraph (6) of the Preamble states about the role of the GGMC: “GGMC has been authorised by the Minister to assist in and support the negotiation of this agreement subject to the provisions of the Act and Regulations and to the final written approval of the Minister of its contents and execution thereof and assist in the administration and implementation thereof.”
Ram said, “I do not think the language can be any clearer. To ‘assist and support’ could only be in relation to persons undertaking the actual negotiations.”
Ram also noted that Minister Trotman was not candid about the source of the confidentiality provision in the 1986 Act or about the payment of a signature bonus.
“Now he attributes to the Geology and Mines Commission responsibility (Blame?) for the negotiation of a contract that weakens rather than strengthens Guyana’s position after it became clear that oil had been found in significant quantities.”
Ram said, too, that given Minister Trotman’s not so clear-cut responses, it would be folly to inquire into the role played by the quintet plus one, the international legal firms and advisors, and of the Attorney General, into the contract renegotiations and the cost to the country in terms of actual disbursements.
When Trotman addressed the media and distanced himself from the renegotiation of the contract he also said, “I also reported in Parliament that Government relied on advice from Michelet and Co. from Oslo, Norway, one of the leading law firms in Norway and a law firm for the Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative.
“So this is no ordinary law firm; they gave advice on the contract. So it was not a personal negotiation done by Raphael Trotman, it was a team that was both national and international in its nature.”
Trotman also said that the government is very happy with the contract and wants to now focus on the opportunity presented for Guyana to finally realise its potential.