IMF partners with GRA to conduct rigorous audits of all ExxonMobil costs

Sep 16, 2018 News

…other int’l partners to come on board

By Kiana Wilburg

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will soon be combining its powers with other revered institutions like the World Bank to help the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) conduct the most rigorous audit possible on all costs to be recovered by ExxonMobil.
Confirming this recently was GRA’s Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia.
In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, the tax chief said that the authority has certain deficiencies and will be leaning on the IMF and other global partners with the experience in petroleum accounting to help Guyana identify any expense that has been inflated by the operator.
Statia said, “In the last few weeks, I have seen a lot of commentary on the capability of the revenue authority in conducting audits on ExxonMobil and its partners.

GRA Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia

“I have acknowledged that we have some capacity issues and we are working feverishly to improve and build in this regard. And we are not going at it alone.”
The tax chief added, “There are international partners who are interested in seeing Guyana succeed in this industry. For example, the IMF and the World Bank will be helping us in all cost recovery matters. They have several experts who are versed in detecting all the petroleum accounting tricks and I am happy to have them on board.”
The GRA Commissioner General also noted that the IMF will be lending its expertise to audit the controversial pre-contract costs, which is believed to be some US$900M.
Statia said that the IMF and the World Bank would be training GRA officers in the areas of petroleum accounting, cost recovery audits and other tax related matters. He said that help would also be provided to develop a risk assessment strategy for the sector. This training is slated to begin in the first week of November.
The tax chief said, “This sort of collaboration in training has been long in the making. Since earlier this year, we have been looking at these things. With the help of the Fund and the World Bank, and even other institutions, nothing will be able to slip by us.
“The people who are coming on board to help us, have years and years of experience in identifying all the tricks of oil companies when it comes to cost recovery. We are in good hands.”
Statia said that the support from the IMF will be financed through the Managing Natural Resource Wealth (MNRW) trust fund, which has also funded the technical assistance received so far on petroleum taxation and revenue management.
Kaieteur News understands that the Fund and other institutions will be tasked with auditing, examining and verifying all available documentation and records necessary for charges and credits relating to the contractor’s activities under the Petroleum Agreement.
This means all books of accounts, accounting entries; material records and inventories, vouchers, payrolls, invoices and any other documents, and correspondence will be requested and checked thoroughly.
The international bodies will also determine if any required documents are yet to be submitted.
The global financial bodies will also assess the impact of the audit on future Profit Oil and Profit Gas, its subsequent petroleum tax implications and if relevant tax entitlements are optimized in the interest of the Government of Guyana.