Harmon commits to providing info on Kaieteur, Canje Blocks

Oct 03, 2020 News

Kaieteur News – Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon yesterday said that he would gather information held by the Coalition on all owners of the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks, which were signed away by the Donald Ramotar administration under questionable circumstances.

Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon

During a virtual press conference, Harmon said that he has some information on the matter, when asked whether he knows of all the beneficial owners. However, he did not want to put out information into the public, which was unverified, as he said this is information he received from someone overseas who reached out to him.
Kaieteur News reminded that, in addition to information from outside sources, the Coalition should have already been in possession of such information while in Government. This is because, every time stakes were transferred in the two blocks, the government is responsible for approving the transfer. In this regard, when signing deals, the government has to know the hands the stakes are leaving, and the hands to which they will go.
Harmon yesterday committed to passing on the question to the Member of Parliament with responsibility for natural resources to see how they may assist. Subsequently, he explained, information may be shared in an upcoming oil and gas press conference to be held by the Coalition.
“We will have a specific press conference on oil and gas,” he said, “and at that time, the question will be answered once it is posed.”
The Kaieteur Block was initially split 50/50 by Ratio Energy and Ratio Guyana (owned by the Israeli company, Ratio Petroleum) on April 28th, 2015. As of today, the Kaieteur Block is split between four companies: ExxonMobil (35 percent), Ratio Guyana (25 percent), Cataleya (25 percent) and Hess (15 percent).
The Canje Block was awarded to Mid Atlantic on March 4, 2015. Currently, four companies have stakes in the Canje Block: ExxonMobil (35 percent), Total (35 percent), JHI Associates (17.5 percent) and Mid-Atlantic (12.5 percent).
Notably, it’s not just the blocks that changed hands but some of the companies which owned stakes in the blocks. For instance, in February of 2017, Ratio Energy was sold to a company named Cataleya, run by two miners, Canadian Mike Cawood and the Guyanese, Ryan Pereira. This process has even less oversight from government.
The State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) had started an investigation into the suspicious awards of the Kaieteur and Canje blocks in 2018. Nothing has come from that investigation.
The Opposition Leader said that it will be important moving forward to scrutinize all activities in the oil sector, as it is the people’s “national patrimony.” He urged the media, in particular, to be persistent in its scrutiny of the sector, and urged citizens to share information with the press and the Opposition.
“It is public scrutiny that will tend to keep the actors in an honest place.” Harmon said.