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Exxon’s CEO, Pres. Ali and VP Jagdeo owe it to Guyanese to revise the lopsided oil deal – Christopher Ram
…history will look most unfavourably on them if this is not done
Kaieteur News – At the International Energy Conference and Expo 2022 which gets underway at the Marriott Hotel from February 15 -18, the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods is slated to make a feature address alongside President, Dr. Irfaan Ali and Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram
Taking this into consideration, Chartered Accountant and Attorney-at-Law, Christopher Ram states it is incumbent that the trio discusses and moves to revise the lopsided Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) which was signed in 2016 by the Granger administration.
In an invited comment, Ram noted that Woods is scheduled to speak immediately after Jagdeo who exercises supervisory control over the petroleum sector. The lawyer said this order of speaking is not without meaning. Expounding further, the Chartered Accountant said, “After the President, Jagdeo is the most powerful member of the Government. He must know that the Petroleum Agreement signed by the Coalition Government in 2016 was the greatest giveaway of a country’s patrimony, in the history of this country, including the colonial era.”
Ram added, “And as he [Jagdeo] would know from the report submitted to the former Coalition Government by Clyde & Company, the British law firm, Exxon put extreme pressure on the Coalition Government, including blatant threats, to sign the Agreement.” It was entered into under duress.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Ram articulated that Woods will no doubt meet privately with senior members of the government, including the President and the Vice President. As a measure of respect for the citizenry, Ram said, “They have a duty to raise with Mr. Woods, first privately and then publicly at the Conference, the unfair and lopsided Petroleum Agreement, and most significantly, that the Agreement suspends Guyana’s sovereign right to make any law which affects the economic rights of Esso and its partners Hess and CNOOC.”
That would not be possible even with the smallest State in the USA, let alone federally, Ram added.
President Irfaan Ali
To be fair to Mr. Woods, Ram said, citizens ought to bear in mind that he was not CEO and Chairman when the infamous contract was signed; he came to the position months later. Ram reminded that Woods now heads a company that likes to boast of its corporate social responsibility, a term that extends accountability beyond the company’s shareholders to include stakeholders, the public and the environment. He said too that Mr. Woods must be aware that there is no group of stakeholders to which Exxon currently owes greater accountability than the Guyanese public.
ExxonMobil’s CEO, Darren Woods.
Ram said the Exxon boss must also be aware that no less than the President of his country, Joe Biden, has pushed the G 20 countries into multilateral coordination requiring major corporations – without exception – having to pay from 2023, minimum 15% tax wherever they operate. “For Exxon, under Mr. Woods to maintain that, Guyana must pay the taxes on the income from its most prolifically profitable operation defies logic, reason and fairness, and of course the G 20 position,” the lawyer stated.
Ram concluded that while this is a test for Mr. Woods, the PPP/C, the fair-minded President and the proud Vice President must recognise that this is a seminal moment and unique opportunity for them to stand up for Guyana. “None of them should fail Guyana. If they do, history will look most unfavourably on them,” the lawyer concluded.
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