Glenn Lall knocks Exxon’s ‘Massa’ mentality

Aug 21, 2022 News

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– debunks claims that Guyana made no investment, took no risk in oil production

Kaieteur News – Advocate for a better oil contract for Guyana, Glenn Lall has deplored what he described as the “slave master” mentality being employed by US oil giant, ExxonMobil in its dealing with Guyana, pointing out flaws in a recent interview by the company’s top official here during which he hailed the Production Sharing Agreement signed with this country as the best deal ever.

“If this isn’t eye pass to a nation, then Glenn doesn’t know what is.  Here you have Alistair Routledge, President of ExxonMobil Guyana telling us that Guyana got the best deal ever, that is putting unprecedented revenues into Guyana’s bank account,” Lall told listeners of his last Friday night’s radio programme ‘The Glenn Lall Show” on Kaieteur Radio – 99.1, 99.5 FM.

During a recent discourse on The Guyanese Critic Social Media Platform, Routledge said he disagrees with comments that the country got a bad contract. “It’s far from the truth, this is the best contract the country has ever had, the most valuable contract for the country. I mean it is already delivering unprecedented revenues to the country into the Natural Resource Fund and it will deliver huge amounts more in the future. We’re really only just getting going.”

Expounding on what qualifies the 2016 deal to be the best, Routledge said, “Well you have to go back to when the contract was agreed. At that time, we knew very little about the oil and gas resource in the Stabroek Block. There was a huge risk to investment under the way this contract is structured. The investors take all the financial risk; they make all the investments upfront. If they never earn enough money to pay back those costs they have to write those costs off. The country never has to invest money in this; so that’s the first thing that’s important to remember is at the time of signing of the contract we didn’t know much. It was still extremely high risk…at the time we knew very little. We had one well. There was a success in 2015 when we signed the 2016 deal.”

Routledge said it is his understanding that the normal practice governing of negotiations took place while alluding that the APNU+AFC regime was under no pressure. He said the two parties negotiated to the best that they felt comfortable doing. The Exxon Guyana head added, “I asked the people that were involved at the time before I came here, they said ‘we’ve made the best offer that we could.’ We improved on the previous terms and conditions. It was the best offer that we were willing and able to make that would compete for investment in the future.”

“Imagine this is the man, the CEO of ExxonMobil Guyana sitting down to talk about our oil future, this US trillion-dollar industry with a so called journalist.  This is the respect that Exxon has for me and you.  If you people cannot smell what is ahead in that bag for Guyana from Exxon then something is wrong…We can all smell when we own Guyanese tricking us, and making a fool out of us, but we refuse to do the same when it comes to these foreigners,” Lall told his audience.

50/50 profits

According to Lall, during the interview with ‘Critic’, Routledge spoke about “half and half profit, flowery and rosy, he said everybody talking about this 2% royalty but nobody talking about the half and half profit we getting.  The way how he said it, anybody who doesn’t know the facts or the true details underneath his explanation, would be misled…”

Lall, quoting Routledge from the interview, observed that the Exxon official said “everybody talking about the 2% royalty only but nobody talking about how Guyana invested no money, Guyana got no risks but still getting half of the profit.”

However, Mr. Lall dismissed this claim as a blatant untruth. “If Guyana did not invest a single cent in the oil sector, then why is Guyana paying back all the billions spent on the FPSOs, the rigs, the drill ships and so on?  Whose oil is paying back for that investment, Mr. Routledge?”

“Let me tell you Guyana, me and the people of this country oil money paying for every cent spent out there, so for Routledge to tell this nation that Guyana invests no money and have no risks is not even half of the truth he is telling this country. He is being disrespectful and dishonest in dismissing our ability to understand the game Exxon is playing on us,” Mr. Lall lamented.

He added that ExxonMobil is using Guyana’s oil as guarantee to the foreign banks in order to collect billions in loans. “And they are doing this without our authorisation and then telling us that we didn’t invest any money there.  Exxon used the money that they borrowed on our head, in which every cent is being taken back before half and half profit is shared and still this man Routledge saying we didn’t invest any money…” Mr. Lall further explained.

He added that the only way ExxonMobil could have gone to the banks and get the billions to invest in the Stabroek Block is on the back of Guyana’s oil resources. “He (Routledge) didn’t gaffe that piece, he skillfully dancing and painting a picture as if we didn’t put anything into the business.”

The Risks

In the area of risks, which Routledge also alluded to in his interview with ‘The Critic’, Lall said the official’s comment that Guyana did not have to take any risk is also far from the truth. “This investment – this oil business is the most frightening and dangerous risk countries upon countries have faced. Many countries haven’t recovered from having to actually face those risks – they are real, they are deadly and they are disastrous for nations and their citizens,” Mr. Lall said.

He said one of the biggest risks Guyana and the region is exposed to today, is from the oil investment “which is why every single individual, local and international, has been calling for full liability coverage from the three parent companies of ExxonMobil, HESS Corporation and CNOOC working out there. Up to this moment we are still living with that great dangerous risk and yet this man telling Guyana, the country has no risk.”

Mr. Lall pointed out that the entire fishing industry has dwindled to little or nothing because of the oil operations and yet Routledge saying Guyana has no risk. Many Guyanese fishermen have been forced out of business due to low catch, which they blamed on oil production activities – a claim which the Guyana Government has refuted pointing to a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, which is yet to be published. “The excessive flaring causing massive damage and disruption to the atmosphere and our lives, we have been in extreme heat, it is that same oil operation going on out there that Routledge says comes with no risks to our lives have us in this situation.” Lall said there are several other dangerous risks, of which Routledge has ignored.

 

 

 

 

 

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