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Rystad Energy says Guyana was second poorest nation behind Haiti; Oil changed our fortune
Rattled by citizens’ concerns…
– Comments expose company’s “Massa-mentality” – KN Publisher
By Kiana Wilburg
Senior Vice President and Head of Latin America and the Caribbean, Schreiner Parker
Kaieteur News – Norwegian consultancy group, Rystad Energy, has come in for harsh criticism from local stakeholders after it snobbishly noted that Guyana, prior to her significant oil discovery in 2015, was actually the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. Specifically, the company’s Senior Vice President and Head of Latin America and the Caribbean, Schreiner Parker said the country ought to bear in mind where it came from and where it is now going. Parker made these and other remarks after being cornered by citizens about his company’s sensational report on the country’s oil future.
A summary of the report which focused on Guyana’s upstream industry was unveiled to members of the business community on Friday evening at Duke Lodge. It stated among other things, that Guyana was poised to receive at a flat rate of US$50 per barrel, US$157B into 2040.
Refusing to accept what was presented as gospel, stakeholders at the event organized by Oil NOW and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), slammed the Rystad study for not being peer-reviewed as well as the fact that it failed to take into consideration or even mention in a cautionary note, what Guyana’s revenue would look like in the face of environmental and other technical risks.
KN Publisher, Glenn Lall
Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall in particular, raised a number of concerns. Lall asked Parker if he, at any point, took into consideration where Guyana sits with the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) in the context of provisions that allow for the oil companies to pay no taxes. Lall also challenged the Rystad VP to say if he took into consideration the fact that Guyana is “at the mercy of God” when it comes to full liability for disasters. Adding two more queries, Lall asked Parker if he analysed the ramifications of Guyana having no ring-fencing provisions in place or even the fact that the two percent royalty is recoverable.
This bit of information, apparently ruffled by the concerns, Parker said his company did take the taxes into consideration while adding that this is something, that is traditional in a frontier exploration area like Guyana. He was then keen to note that, “Guyana was the second poorest country in the western hemisphere out beat by Haiti before this oil industry was developed. Now, Guyana will become one of the richest countries per capita in the western hemisphere and the world if you think about it.”
Parker added, “And I think it is really important if you think about the fact of where you were and where you are going. So of course, we will have a difference of opinion and that is what we were exchanging here. Our piece is an opinion piece just as your pieces are opinion pieces…”
Following the conclusion of the event at Duke Lodge, Lall said it is not so much what Parker said that disturbed him but rather, the tone with which it was said.
The KN Publisher said, “It brings out the massa-mentality, how these guys think of third world, coloured people. In his mind, he believes that Guyana should have been like Haiti and we should be thankful that we found oil. And that oil will lift us out of that situation he cast us in with his plucked out figures from thin air as to how much we will get from the oil industry.”
Lall said he found the Rystad official’s comments to be a condescending reaction to his failure to address the impacts of the lopsided contract with ExxonMobil.
What was even worse Lall said was near the ending of the programme, Parker closed by referencing the democracy Guyana now lives in which therefore gives the press and citizens by extension, the freedom to express their thoughts and opinions.
“By using democracy and freedom of the press the way he expressed himself also reeks of the massa-slave syndrome again; meaning, who are we to question his company’s so-called figures that are masquerading as a report. That for me was very disrespectful to a sovereign nation. All these things can happen because of the kind of leadership we have,” expressed the businessman.
The staunch advocate for betterment in the oil sector said he is of the firm conviction that Rystad, which is a client of ExxonMobil, could not attempt such a brainwashing exercise with “such garbage in any country of its peers.”
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