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US Firm hired to revise Guyana’s petroleum laws has 40-year-old relationship with ExxonMobil

Mar 09, 2020 News

– World Bank criticised for financing role

Well-known British newspaper, The Guardian, reported yesterday that US Law firm, Hunton Andrew Kurth, which Guyana will use to revise its archaic petroleum legislation, has a solid relationship with ExxonMobil, which spans 40 years.
The Guardian noted that the US$1.2M bill will be financed by the World Bank, the same financial institution which pledged not to fund activities related to the fossil fuel industry. The daily newspaper noted that Hunton Andrews Kurth has acted for ExxonMobil for 40 years, while noting that it has worked on multiple cases for the oil giant, some of which were in relation to climate impacts, such as an action by native Americans in the Alaskan village of Kivalina who argued that the climate crisis was threatening their way of life.
Heike Mainhardt, a Senior Advisor on Multilateral Financial Institutions at Urgewald who spoke with The Guardian noted that the World Bank claims its loan is part of efforts to help Guyana in the good governance of its resources.
The Senior Advisor at the highly respected non-profit environmental and human rights organisation based in Germany said, “…This is ‘good governance’ for the oil companies, not for the people of Guyana or the global climate. The World Bank is causing a conflict of interest, in effect undermining good governance.”
It was also noted by The Guardian that the World Bank has already faced criticism over its involvement in the oil sector. The news agency said that the World Bank garnered praise from environmental campaign groups in 2017 when it pledged to stop investment in “upstream oil and gas”. However, the Guardian previously reported it had earmarked millions of dollars to improve governance in the oil and gas sector in Guyana.
The Guardian said that Hunton Andrews Kurth declined to comment, citing client confidentiality concerns. It also noted that Guyana’s Department of Public Information did not respond to requests for comment.
As for ExxonMobil, it told The Guardian that it was “committed to the highest standards of business conduct” and that “any reports speculating or alleging the appearance of anything improper are baseless and without merit.”
NOT THE FIRST TIME
Apart from the report by the Guardian, Kaieteur News has highlighted that the World Bank loan was also used to hire another ExxonMobil contact, Dr. Michael Warner, to put the finishing touches on Guyana’s Local Content Policy.
Kaieteur News had exposed the ties between the UK Consultant and ExxonMobil, but the Energy Department and the World Bank still gave the official their blessings via the award of the $22M contract.
By the time Dr. Warner was done with Guyana’s Local Content Policy, he removed several provisions which were initially put in place by Trinidadian Expert, Anthony Paul to give Guyanese the advantage in the sector, and included among other things, a confidentiality clause to prevent the local content plans and reports of oil companies from being made available for public scrutiny.

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