Each Guyanese owes ExxonMobil $9M presently, here’s how and why

Jun 05, 2022 News

…if is not our debt and we ain’t owe anything, why ExxonMobil taking out money every day from our oil. Is not we oil money ExxonMobil using to pay back for everything out there.” – Glenn Lall

Kaieteur News – Former Deputy Comptroller for the State of New York, currently the Director of Financial Analysis at the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, Tom Sanzillo, two weeks ago concluded that each Guyanese presently owes Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL)—ExxonMobil Guyana – $9M each.

Kaieteur News Publisher, Mr. Glenn Lall

IEEFA Director of Financial Analysis, Tom Sanzillo

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo

He said, the assessment was based on figures publicly available which points to the oil giant and their partners, Hess Corporation Guyana Inc. and China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOCC), which is in excess of US$30B.
According to Sanzillo, since all of the investments funded by loans contracted by EEPGL and its partners are to be repaid using cost oil, which essentially means that the approximately 750,000 persons living in Guyana owes some US$44,000 or G$9M each.
The conclusions did not go down well with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, however, who last week Monday sought to castigate the analysis by Sanzillo as lunacy and insisted that the only debts the country was responsible for was those contracted or guaranteed by the State.
It would be poignant to note that, each of these referenced by Jagdeo is in fact represented in the Official Estimates each year as inflows while debt repayment from these types of loans are also reflected.

Sanzillo in response via a public missive contended that Vice President Jagdeo was misleading the nation or that the National Estimates are incorrect to which the politician has since doubled down repeating his position during outreaches held in Berbice.Publisher of Kaieteur News, Glenn Lall, during his radio broadcast on Friday last sought to bring clarity to the affair by seeking to point out that since the monies said to be expended by ExxonMobil Guyana was being had from cost oil, the debt belonged to the people since the oil belongs to the people.

The cover page of the contract depicting its signatories

He prefaced his arguments during his live broadcast by reminding that at the time Sanzillo gave his initial pronouncement, many other oil experts were also telling Guyana to hold off on renewing the Liza I Permit until “we get it right and squeeze ExxonMobil to get more benefits for the poor people wah taking bare rice for lunch, doing construction in the hot sun.”
According to Lall, “the man based his findings on the figures ExxonMobil said they spend so far, the man highlighted that and said if Guyana continues at the pace it is going, we will never see profits.”
Recalling Vice President Jagdeo’s utterances that the only debt Guyana got to pay, is debt contracted or guaranteed by the State, since there is no debt contracted by ExxonMobil or any of these companies, “so you don’t have to pay, this is how he busing down the international analyst.”
With this in mind, Lall posed the rhetorical question. “…if is not our debt and we ain’t owe anything, why ExxonMobil taking out money every day from our oil, is not we oil money ExxonMobil using to pay back for everything out there?”
Adamant “if is we oil paying back these loans, man is nah we debt?” Lall asked rhetorically, adding “that is what the expert is telling Guyana and Jagdeo putting he own slant and spin on this thing about state guarantee and state contracted debt.”
To this end, he sought to point out that “at the end of the day is all awe (of us) money that we supposed to get from the oil, going to pay for that investment.”
Breaking it down further, Lall quipped, “…you and a man sign a contract fuh cut your rice, you agree that he will buy and bring a combine, and every day he cut 100 bag paddy, 75 bags paddy goes to pay back for the combine, is who debt that is really? The rice field farmer or the man wah buy and bring the combine?”
According to Lall, “Is the same thing with our oil out there; if they taking out 75 barrels out of every 100 dem bring up on a daily basis for the debts and expenses, then who paying those debts? Is your oil…Is not you paying man? That’s how simple this thing is.”
He concluded saying, “this situation will go on for a lifetime, that is the terms and conditions agreed to by the Coalition and Jagdeo now continuing with it, refusing to make any changes. All the international experts saying to correct…stop indebting the nation, stop indebting every citizen with more and more billion dollar projects, but this clown want to put a spin on it, telling we that is not we debt.”

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