Rystad Energy – the latest oil sales people

Aug 06, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Anybody from anywhere in the world thinks that they can come to Guyana and present any sparkling oil numbers to us, and we should swallow that hook, line, and sinker. The latest in the growing line of promoters of eye-catching figures, with their shiny slides, and slick salespeople was Rystad Energy of Norway. The problem was that the very American accented and sounding oil pitchman from the European-based entity, Mr. Shreiner Parker, was all sales pitch, and little of substance. Mr. Parker’s product, as he presented it, crumbled under the light of scrutiny and some rigorous shaking.

The pitchman from Rystad Energy presented the prettiest picture possible of how bright and beautiful our bountiful oil treasure is going to be for Guyana. It was as if he was selling to Guyanese on behalf of ExxonMobil, while pretending to be independent, which is what Rystad Energy claims to be. It so turned out, when pressed by two unrelenting Guyanese interrogators, Attorney and Accountant, Chris Ram and Glenn Lall (publisher of this paper), that Rystad Energy has been a client of ExxonMobil and Hess Corporation, two of the oil companies in the consortium producing oil offshore Guyana.

This neither looked good nor sounded well for several reasons. First, there should have been full disclosure up front, in the interests of openness and principle. No matter how good the Rystad Energy analysis, or any analysis at all, such a client-oil company relationship immediately puts Guyanese at a disadvantage, and raises questions about the fullness, accuracy, and reliability of what is presented. The fact was that this had to be pried out, first by Mr. Ram, who did not get an answer about the independent nature of Rystad Energy, and then by the publisher of KN before that client-oil company relationship was grudgingly acknowledged.

The second issue of concern is that Rystad Energy’s report, as pitched by Mr. Parker is remarkable for its pronounced skew towards highlighting all the pluses, and only the pluses, from this nation’s oil discoveries and what those mean for the prospects of poor Guyanese. There were all the eye-popping figures that would make anyone poor man drool in anticipation. It is the equivalent of telling a hungry man any story about food and drink, and he is sure to suck up every syllable that is dangled so tantalizingly before him. He might even hallucinate and actually believe that he is filled and not suffering from hunger pains anymore. This is how Rystad Energy and others play with the minds of Guyanese, and trick them.

Oil production has its risks, and the fact that ExxonMobil is pumping oil at such an accelerated pace and in such a tight space with multiple wells only intensifies the exposures facing this country. The probability of an oil spill is greater, and has to be considered and factored into any projection about royalties and profits. Further, such a probability is not some remote, ‘scaredy’ kitten scenario, but one that has happened before elsewhere with disastrous consequences, and should a major one occur here, it could be the death knell of not only Guyana, but for other countries in this region. These are what we consider to be significant flaws in the work put out by Rystad Energy, and rather stumblingly defended by Mr. Parker.

The third issue of contention with Rystad Energy and Mr. Parker had to do with the billion-dollar (US) gas-to-shore project. As presented by Mr. Parker, this project is both viable and necessary. When asked repeatedly for the supporting basis for this position of Rystad Energy, there was no relevant response forthcoming. Mr. Parker went round and round about reinjection and flaring, only to end up always at this viable and necessary gas-to-shore project. A reasonable thought is that a self-declared global leader in suck studies like Rystad Energy would have had some foundation, some underpinning, to boost what it is selling to Guyanese. As the man himself admitted, this so-called vaunted study by Rystad Energy of Guyana’s oil industry and its meaning for the citizens of this country was nothing but an opinion, and one with little to bolster it. It is what any fool from anywhere could do any time.