Liza renewal – No! Not unless Exxon agrees to our terms

May 29, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The Liza-1 permit is up for renewal next week. THE LIZA-1 PERMIT MUST NOT BE RENEWED. It must not be renewed until ExxonMobil agrees to every condition that Guyana lays out to protect itself and to get more than the paltry benefits that it is currently receiving. Guyana gets charity, while ExxonMobil rakes in billions from our oil bonanza.
The Liza-1 Permit falls under the authority of Guyana’s Environmental and Protection Agency (EPA), which is overseen by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. The EPA must hold fast to powerful and immovable demands to get more from this oil before any renewal of the permit is even considered, much less granted. The EPA must stand up for Guyana, and while we have come down hard on Guyana’s EPA, it is still a local agency and its people are our own, so we will support any effort on its part to do better for us.
Vice President Jagdeo must see to it that every concession is extracted, wrung, and squeezed from ExxonMobil. He must ensure that the EPA is backed by the full power of the Government of Guyana. There must be no flinching before ExxonMobil; the company must be the one wondering what we are going to present, how much we will demand. There can be no give and take because ExxonMobil has taken advantage of this country and cheated us and robbed us. Now we must turn the tables, and get what is due to us. Guyana’s Bharrat Jagdeo must see to this. There must be no more games, no more playing around with ExxonMobil. This is the time for Guyana to level the scales and get something for itself from its oil wealth. So far, this country has gotten nothing but pennies, nothing but the equivalent of corporate handouts.
ExxonMobil needs the incredible profits generated by Liza-1 more than we need the pittances that we get for our oil wealth. It is our time and our turn to capsize this horrendous deal, piece by piece, and layer by layer, by reversing the trickeries that America’s ExxonMobil has wreaked upon Guyana. If it comes to the point where the Government of Guyana, through the agile mind and guiding hand of Bharrat Jagdeo, must throw down the gauntlet before ExxonMobil and ready to wage war with the company, then let it be. This is where Vice President Jagdeo gets to prove how much he is a man for Guyanese, a leader worth his election to be a spearhead of this nation. We appreciate the role of the EPA, but its courage and its strength have to come from Mr. Jagdeo, and none other.
Mr. Jagdeo has shown that he has the smarts to make rings around locals, now he must employ all of his cunning, all of his native intelligence, and all of his accumulated wisdoms to twist ExxonMobil’s arm (neck, if needed) and bend the company to our will. Guyana holds the cards, Guyana is in the driver’s seat, and of those we must make the best use possible, given the opportunity that now stands before us next week involving the renewal of this permit.
If ExxonMobil decides to dig in its heels and play hardball, then let us Guyanese be ready to walk away in refusal, if we don’t get what we want. We want a bigger share from our oil deal. We want ExxonMobil to pay its fair share of taxes. We want ExxonMobil to carry its weight where expenses are concerned. We want the kind of insurance protection that instills the confidence in us that we are secure, and not exposed, in the event of a catastrophic oil spill.
Last, we suggest that every Guyanese visit the EPA website and make it their duty to read and familiarise themselves with the Liza Phase 1 project summary that is posted there. All the aspects of the Liza 1 project, especially the sophistication of ExxonMobil’s operations, and the delicate nature of its components, the dangers, our exposures. Guyanese must read for themselves of the wealth that ExxonMobil is carrying away daily, and the daily robbery of this country. The Liza 1 PERMIT MUST NOT BE RENEWED UNLESS EXXONMOBIL AGREES TO GUYANA’S TERMS.

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