Latest update March 21st, 2025 7:03 AM
Latest News
Guyana’s state of confusion has oil companies like ExxonMobil licking their lips- Datadin
By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
“We have not advanced anywhere along the road. We have plenty talks, plenty discussions, plenty fancy things of what they did and will do. But, I have worked in this industry since 2004 and Guyana is nowhere close to the boat.”- Sanjeev Datadin
Guyana needs to pull up its proverbial socks or risk being taken for an even worse ride by oil companies who want to take advantage. This is according to Attorney-at-law, Sanjeev Datadin.
Datadin, who spent a number of years plying his trade in Trinidad, said that he paid keen attention to how international oil companies operate.
He said that considering what he learned, he thinks his country is setting itself up to fail.
Datadin told this newspaper, “We have not advanced anywhere along the road. We have plenty talks, plenty discussions, plenty fancy things of what they did and will do. But, I have worked in this industry since 2004 and Guyana is nowhere close to the boat.”
He said that several pieces of legislation are still needed for the oil industry, “We need legislation for local content; legislation to protect the environment; and so many other things.”
He said that the Petroleum Commission is still to be set up. “We now have a Department of Energy that nobody is quite sure what they are doing over there. I am telling you, these are all things that make international companies like Exxon lick their lips.
Attorney-at-law, Sanjeev Datadin
“The more disorganized we are, the more they will be able to make it up as they go along, and the more we will be on the outside.”
Datadin continued, “We have our directors saying that we are going to put better practices in our PSA (Production Sharing Agreements) but the only countries that have done so effectively have done so with statutory underpinning, where the whole world knows what you can and cannot put in the agreement.”
Datadin expressed worry that Guyana is still allowing room for one-on-one negotiation.
He said, “We need to eliminate that completely so that no company can say, ‘Oh we want this special concession because some corrupt practice has taken place.”
“I am not accusing anyone of anything but if it is all laid in legislation then we will be sure that nothing corrupt occurs. History has taught us that with the one and one, the man who gets the most favourable deal is the one who offers the most corrupt transactions. I am not speaking about Guyana, I am saying worldwide.”
Datadin said that Guyana needs “fix policy in every area.”
“We made a deal with Exxon for an $18M signing bonus. The average basket ballplayer, the Lebron Jameses get that or more. What is done is done, but we have to go forward respecting ourselves and put the laws and regulations in place.
“The reason we did not know better and the reasons our negotiators got caught flat footed and out of their depths was because there was no legislative framework to say what could and could not be done. We need legislation and we need it quick,” said Datadin.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
“One Guyana” is no less a national slogan than “Green Guyana”
Kaieteur News- The notion that “One Guyana” is a partisan slogan is pure poppycock. It is a desperate fiction... more
If Guyana’s President Ali is the “Zelensky of the Caribbean”, who is the Putin?
Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS, Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- In the latest... more
Weekend Cartoon
