Advertisements on Canje oil block misleading –Dr. Mangal

Jun 11, 2019 News

By Kiana Wilburg

Following several newspaper articles on the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA)’s probe into the award of oil blocks, Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas Inc. and JHI Associates, two industry unknowns, have been publishing almost daily, advertisements to defend the exploration licence which they were handed by former President Donald Ramotar for the Canje Block.

Oil and Gas Consultant, Dr. Jan Mangal

While they got the licence on March 4, 2015, a mere two months before General and Regional Elections were held, the ad states that negotiations on the matter were in train since 2013. It also states that all laws were followed, that the companies’ founders have decades of experience in oil exploration offshore Guyana, and that they met the government’s requirements for technical expertise and financial capabilities.
Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday, Oil and Gas Consultant, Dr. Jan Mangal alluded that the ad is misleading to the Guyanese public as it fails to address the biggest issue at hand, which is, Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas Inc. and JHI Associates have no experience in deep water exploration, but were still given the Canje Block licence.
The former Presidential Advisor said that there are worldwide cases bearing a resemblance to the foregoing matter. He said that the one characteristic they usually have in common is the element of corruption.
Dr. Mangal said, “It is highly suspicious and likely illegal for government officials to award oil blocks to companies with no capacity to explore and develop the oil.”
The Oil Consultant also took to his Facebook Page on June 8, last, to speak on the issue. There, the transparency advocate said that the objective with the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks probe is purely to return hundreds of millions, potentially billions of US dollars that were stolen from the people of Guyana.
He said, “And we already know they were stolen, as no servant of the people (i.e. politician) gives away the people’s property for nothing to companies that know nothing, as happened just prior to the election in 2015. The objective must be to rescind the blocks so the people of Guyana can see the true value.”
Dr. Mangal stressed that the objective cannot be a political witch-hunt, as this will not result in the return of the assets to the people. Rescinding these awards and banning the companies (including ExxonMobil and Hess Corporation) will be sufficient penalty for the guilty politicians, he stressed.
CANJE BLOCK OPERATORS
The company to which former President, Donald Ramotar, signed away the Canje Block, was Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas. JHI Associates Inc. farmed in (or bought in) right after. The block was awarded on March 4, 2015 to Mid-Atlantic. JHI was only registered in Guyana on May 4, and it bought into the block on May 15. It seems JHI was created from nothing as its archived website only started working and listing managers, including John Cullen, on June 10. The general election was on May 11, 2015.
According to documents held by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Secretariat, JHI was only incorporated on June 17, 2015, in the British Virgin Islands. That nation is under no obligation to provide countries like Guyana with tax information of companies registered there.
And even though Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas was incorporated here on April 8, 2013, both companies were in one-on-one negotiations with the PPP government for the oil block one month before — March 2013. This means that the individuals behind the companies were asking for oil blocks without having a company being formed.
What is also significant is that the Canje Block is the only asset that these two companies have to date. Additionally, JHI and Mid-Atlantic, which participated in Guyana’s EITI reporting process, failed to submit their audited financial statements for review.
JHI also failed to submit information on its beneficial owners. The EITI report lists Kamal Dookie as the beneficial owner of Mid-Atlantic.