December 20, 2019 – the end of a long road in the search for oil

Jan 09, 2020 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

In the wee hours of December 20, 2019, it was announced that ExxonMobil had started to produce oil. “First oil” was the shout all around. This date ended a 62-year search for the “Black Gold” by successive PPP and PPP/C governments.
Although Guyana was a colony for centuries, the colonial powers did very little to explore for oil. This is despite the fact Trinidad had been producing oil commercially since 1908 and Venezuela in the 1930s. Many people were convinced that Guyana had to have oil.
The leaders of the PPP were among them. The 1953 government did not have the time to launch the hunt for oil. That government, elected for the first time by universal adult suffrage, was removed after only 133 days in office. However, from the time it regained office in 1957, Cheddi Jagan and his then Minister of Natural Resources, Edward Beharry, launched the search for oil.
By 1958, they had succeeded in attracting a company to pursue that dream. That year, a newspaper reported the following “Oil exploration is getting under way in British Guiana. The California Oil Company (British Guiana) Ltd has started a marine seismic exploration programme in the offshore waters.
“The survey is being undertaken by Western Geophysical Company of America which is under contract to the California Oil Company. This exploration is expected to last about five weeks.
“It will cover part of the 16000 square miles included under the Oil exploration Licence granted to the company by Government in April this year (1958). Under the terms of this agreement, if oil is found in appreciable quantities, a certain percentage will be refined in British Guiana which will also share over 50 percent of the profits”.
Having done the survey and collected the data, the company seemed to have lost interest. It meant that they either felt that no oil was there in commercial quantities or that they found oil, and for more political and strategic reasons were discouraged from developing the find.
It appears too, that Cheddi Jagan had his doubt as to why the California Company did not peruse its findings, while taking away the results of the survey. Therefore in 1961 he approached the United Nations seeking technical assistance to search for oil.
The UN agreed to assist, and at the end of June/beginning of July 1962, it sent two Soviet scientists, Dr. V.V Fedinsky and Dr. S. M Simakor, to study and advise the PPP government. The report was encouraging and they recommended that further exploration be done. After all, their stay here was relatively short.
On the basis of that report, the government applied to the UN for assistance to do aero-magnetic surveys.
That did not get off the ground. Even though the UN was working closely with the PPP government no work was done. It appears that because of the political problems in the country which included riots and the PPP forced out of office in 1964, that project did not materialise.
However, the Soviet Union seemed convinced that British Guiana had oil in commercial quantities. On Friday 27, December 1962, a four-man Trade Delegation arrived in the then British Guiana. They were Vassle Kamerisky, the leader, Serhei Erin, Veadirmir Ivankov and Alexander Tfhikov.
One of the projects set for discussion with the British Guiana government was for the Soviet Union to provide technical support for the establishment of an oil refinery, if oil was found. That was a big display of confidence in the earlier investigation in that year (1962).
This had to have the support of the colonial power. At the time they were on course to frustrate every project put up by the Government. The Instant Coffee Factory, the Oil from Rice Bran Factory, the Glass Factory, a Tannery, Hydro Power from Tiger Hill, all were frustrated.
Even through the UK said they had no money for such projects, they refused to give guarantees to the Hungarian, German Democratic Republic and Cuban governments, who were willing to loan money at concessionary terms to develop these projects.
The whole idea was to help the PNC’s racist propaganda and frustrate the PPP’s job creation efforts. By doing so, they gave grist to the PNC’s racist propaganda.
Since December 1964, the date that the PPP left office, precious little was done by the PNC in pursuit of oil. We had Hunt Oil, hunting in the Rupununi and claiming to have come up empty. No other major effort was made.
It was only after the PPP/C came to office in 1992 that more focused attention was placed in the pursuit of oil. The companies now finding oil all came during the PPP’s period in office. December 20, 2019 was the crowning of those efforts.
The only unfortunate thing is the one-sided agreement in favour of the oil companies that was signed by this corrupt PNC-led APNU regime.
Nevertheless, now a new era begins in which Guyana is now counted as an important player in the oil sector. Time will judge how well we do. However, we must give recognition of the work done in the late 1950s and early 1960s that have now borne fruit.
Former President
Mr. Donald Ramotar

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