Oil Contract reveals… Guyana agrees to not go after ExxonMobil’s hidden financial records regarding operations here

–Clause not found in Agreements of more than 15 countries

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman

ExxonMobil has been continuously criticised for burying some of its financial records in nations with strict nondisclosure laws. In fact, several countries have expended millions of dollars in the court system trying to access such documents.
The frustration experienced in waiting years to access the entity’s records have forced some governments to insert into their Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), clauses which expressly state that all financial records should be available to the government and its auditing parties.
But in Guyana’s Production Sharing Agreement, a most interesting turn of events has taken place.
Instead of securing access to all of ExxonMobil’s financial documents, regardless of location, the Government of Guyana agreed to relinquish all rights to go after documents in relation to operations here.
In other words, the Government of Guyana has agreed to limit the scope of any audit it may pursue.
The specific clause which speaks to this arrangement is found in Annex C of the PSA which speaks to accounting procedures.
That section outlines the various guidelines the Government, specifically the Minister of Natural Resources must follow in carrying out audits on the company.
While the Minister must give the company three months notice before commencing the audit, Annex C states, “Nothing herein shall entitle the Minister or his auditors to have access to data and records which: I) are subject to statutory restrictions on disclosure or ii) do not relate to petroleum operations; or iii) are not customarily disclosed in auditing practice in the international petroleum industry…”
OTHER CASES
What has also turned out to be troubling to some local commentators is the fact that the aforementioned clause has not been found in the production sharing agreements of more than 15 countries.
These include but are not limited to Uganda, Indonesia, China, Tanzania, Angola, Papua New Guinea, Chad, Nigeria, Sudan, Yemen, South Sudan, Mozambique, Kenya and Chad. (To see some of the PSAs of these nations, follow this link: http://www.oilnewskenya.com/production-sharing-agreements-east-africa/)

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3 thoughts on “Oil Contract reveals… Guyana agrees to not go after ExxonMobil’s hidden financial records regarding operations here”

Kassem_B February 14, 2018 at 6:35 am

‘Oil Contract reveals… Guyana agrees to not go after ExxonMobil’s hidden financial records regarding operations here’
Thanks
This is all good education for the people.
It is up to the people now against the usual gate keepers
RLSG February 14, 2018 at 9:19 am

To whom is Mr. Trotman listening … and what is causing him to go in the opposite direction of what is normal in negotiating with Exxon/Mobil when compared with other oil producing countries .. this is so mysterious. I suppose what passes for ‘normal’ in other countries does not apply to Guyana. Come 2020 the people should ‘speak truth to power’ when the APNU+AFC comes begging for votes .. the answer should be ‘no’. But sadly they ‘are stuck between a rock and a hard place … the PPP or APNU’ .. time for change.
MyFun1 February 14, 2018 at 12:25 pm

This is the cost/price poor countries pay for dealing with corrupt American, Russian & Chinese Entities who wine & dine Politicians & Government Officials. These ruthless companies hold all the cards including the initial Capital outlay.