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We need to learn from our mistakes before approving any more oil projects

Dec 01, 2019 Letters

Dear Editor,

There are many tricks the salesman has studied to close a lucrative deal. These range from: projecting a sense of authority; playing the reciprocation game; and creating a sense of urgency. In the negotiations with the oil companies, we have fallen prey to these social psychology tricks. We need to recognize these tricks to avoid further exploitation.
We have all been hooked by the slick salesman in the expensive suit. After all, he sounds and looks like an authority figure for the product he is selling. But if we question him, we may discover he memorized a few talking points and diverts the conversation when detailed product questions are posed. Exxon has used the term ‘frontier’ numerous times and continues to use that term to justify the Stabroek PSA. But it has been more than four years since Discovery of Oil had been announced and we have had more than 14 discoveries since. If you employ an architect to build his 15th house, would you say that is a risky proposition? Exxon has been in the oil business for more than 100 years, thus its words carry some authority. But it doesn’t mean we should blindly trust what Exxon says. After all, their number one goal is to serve their shareholders not the people of Guyana. It is Guyana’s oil, not theirs – therefore Guyanese authorities must question and verify their statements.
If you have been at a car dealership you may have experienced the salesman trying to buy you lunch. He knows if he can do you a small favour that the likelihood of him gaining a sale will increase significantly. As Wikipedia states,” Reciprocity is not only a strong determining factor of human behaviour; it is a powerful method for gaining one’s compliance with a request. The rule of reciprocity has the power to trigger feelings of indebtedness even when faced with an uninvited favor and irrespective of liking the person who executed the favor.” Exxon is spending money on University of Guyana and local sporting events. But the money Exxon outlays in these instances are usually just a few million dollars. There have been numerous articles in the press about the tens of billions of US dollars we are being shortchanged on the oil contracts. Exxon is not a charity but a finely tuned business machine, thus we have to question its social motives. Are we accepting trinkets for our ‘black gold’?

The social psychology trick that seems to work best is scarcity. We have all fallen for the limited time sale. The salesman knocks on your door pitching a one day special with limited quantity. He may create a sense of urgency by saying if you don’t take the deal then your neighbour may get the last one. There are now cooling off period laws in America and Europe to prevent their citizens from falling for these urgency trap sales tactics. We likely fell for this scheme when we signed the 2016 Stabroek PSA. These psychology tricks are not new but they work best against the uninitiated. The oil companies appear to be pressuring the government to approve the Payara project. Before we proceed with anymore approvals, we should have a “cool off” period to understand where certain psychology tricks have been used. We need to make a checklist to mitigate these psychology tricks.

The oil companies are in a rush to pump oil to pocket their Christmas bonuses but when will we receive ours? If there is one lesson, we should learn from this debacle with the oil contracts, it is that we should take our time to carefully vet future approvals.

Darshanand Khusial on behalf of OGGN

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