The promise of a bright future

Jul 13, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,
A lot of conversation here in recent months has focused on the nature and fairness of our deal with Exxon. Like many, I’ve been alarmed by claims that our government left money on the table. Many Guyanese feel hopelessly removed from our government’s decision-making processes, and that creates a resentment which makes it easy to believe that we are getting a bad deal.
Fortunately, as 2020 draws closer things are starting to become clearer. Tuesday’s presentation by an independent energy intelligence firm from Norway called Rystad Energy focused on the outlook for our young oil industry.
I was able to take a look at some of the slides that were presented, and I have to say it was refreshing to see a report not based on conjecture or politics.
One bit of information, I think, many will find interesting was the comparison of the percentage of our government’s projected take based on the oil contract, relative to the take of other countries. According to Rystad Energy, that take for Guyana’s offshore production is 59 percent.
As the presentation showed, this puts us right in the middle of other countries which are deemed “frontier regions”. That means that we previously had no known resources or any oil and gas infrastructure.
Our government take is more favorable than Israel and the Falkland Islands and only slightly less than Mauritania and Mozambique. This was the first time I had seen an assessment of the contract which was based on a comparison with other production projects with similar circumstances.
This means that our current contract, for all the criticism it has received, will still arm us with the revenues needed to completely transform our country. Now we must hope that our leaders have the foresight and wherewithal to institute the policy frameworks necessary to capitalize on the financial windfall we are set to receive.
Regards,
Andrew McBean

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