Guyana’s lawless giveaways affect our neighbours too

Jan 07, 2021 Front Page Comment, News

Kaieteur News – Brazil is a regional neighbour hit hard by the sellout, backward behaviour of Guyana’s political leaders. The low standards and returns which Guyana negotiated are pressuring countries to relax strict industry protections.
As a consequence, the Brazilian state-owned oil company, Petrobras, is threatening to set the company’s sights on Guyana unless environmental permits are expedited.
The precedent set by Guyana, through its oil giveaways, is threatening a backlash in our relations with Brazil. When Guyanese leaders giveaway the nation’s oil wealth for ‘next-to-nothing’, this places Brazilian regulators in a difficult spot. Oil companies, including state-owned oil companies, can now demand that Brazilian regulators grant to them nothing less than what the oil companies obtained in Guyana.
The capitalist system is about competition. Oil companies are bloodthirsty sharks competing globally for oil assets. They will move their investments to where they can obtain the best terms. Oil companies will flock to free-for-all markets such as Guyana where they can benefit from lax regulation and breakneck terms. This is good for oil companies, but will not benefit Guyana.
It will have ramifications for economic development in Brazil and for that country’s relations with Guyana.
Brazil is no push-over. PETROBAS – the Brazilian Petroleum Corporation – is angry. And the Brazilian government, in turn, has ways and means of apprehending us for lowering the sector’s negotiating benchmarks.

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