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Negotiations for the Stabroek Block licence… Guyana held a lot of power but didn’t realise it
– Chatham House Fellow Associate
By Kiana Wilburg
In the report that the coalition administration commissioned last year from international law firm, Clyde and Company, it was noted that the negotiation of improved terms for Guyana in the 2016 agreement with Exxon was not a priority for the Government.
Chatham House Associate Fellow, Dr. Valerie Marcel
During her first appearance on Kaieteur Radio’s programme, Guyana’s Oil and You, Chatham House Associate Fellow, Dr. Valerie Marcel was asked to state if she is aware of this conclusion in the report, to which she answered in the affirmative.
Questioned on what she made of the said pronouncement, Dr. Marcel said, “Well I mean, that certainly echoes the kinds of concerns that were talked about at the time in Georgetown, you know the sense of threat coming from Venezuela. (But) I think the thing that is often forgotten in those moments, or that was forgotten at that moment, was that Guyana was actually quite powerful but it didn’t see that. I think the Guyanese Government perhaps didn’t see how powerful it was vis-à-vis Exxon.”
In response to a request to expound further, Dr. Marcel noted that Guyana went from being a frontier country where it was struggling to find investors in its oil sector, to a country that was really emerging as a hotspot; as a place where significant exploration money had already been put into finding reserves.
The Energy Expert added, “And I think it seems likely Exxon knew what it had there, and therefore, the government had power and since then, the power of the government has grown, because (there) has been a string of impressive discoveries, and I think it is really important to see that power and not to feel like little Guyana anymore.”
Further to this, the Chatham House Associate Fellow was reminded of the controversial Global Witness report which stated that Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman ignored expert advice to the effect that more financial information was needed before he signed the Stabroek Block licence. On this note, Dr. Marcel was asked to say if she believes that an investigation is needed to understand why that advice was ignored. Dr. Marcel said it is her understanding that was part of the focus of the Clyde and Company investigation.
The Chatham House Fellow added, “I mean, that is just taken from public sources. I thought that was the gist of the investigation, understanding step by step of the whole process…”
Dr. Marcel noted, nonetheless, that she believes it is important to understand if there was mishandling of the award of the contract.
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