Jagdeo should not be involved in auction of oil blocks – Opposition  

Aug 24, 2022 News

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Kaieteur News – “There should be no oil block auction until Guyanese are confident the process will not be tainted.”  This is the clear position of the Opposition regarding the year-end auction of the remaining oil blocks. On Tuesday, during the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) press conference, Economist Elson Low argued that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo should play no role in this process as the People’s Progressive Party (PPP’)s mismanagement of the oil and gas industry begins to stack up.

He told members of the press corps, “Senior officials contradict each other on critical matters, timelines are pushed back without explanation, the government proposes ideas and then scraps them abruptly, and the stench of corruption lingers.”

Low pointed out that it was not too long ago since Jagdeo’s friend and business man Su ZhiRong was heard in a Vice News documentary uttering the words “oil company” in the context of allegedly paying a bribe to the VP.

To this end, the activist said, “We called for a halt to the auction of Guyana’s remaining oil blocks, unless an investigation was launched and clear mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability put in place. We renew those calls now.” He insisted, “There should be no oil block auction until Guyanese are confident the process will not be tainted.”

Low, the Economic and Youth Policy Advisor to the  Leader of the Opposition, argued that the serious allegations of bribery and corruption levelled against Jagdeo is a clear indication that the official must not be especially involved in the business of oil. “His involvement sends the message that the Ali government condones corruption and is complicit in the alleged illegal activities for which the VP is accused. Only his removal from office and a credible international investigation will change that reality,” he contended.

In underlining the importance of the oil and gas sector, the Economist noted that billions of US dollars are at stake, and there must not be any confusion or hiccups during the process.

He explained that there were talks of a National Oil Company being setup; however, the idea was subsequently put on pause “with the flimsy excuse given that it would delay oil exploration. Was that not obvious from the beginning? How could the PPP not know that a national oil company would take time and resources to develop?”

Low said that if something this obvious was not clear to the administration before, it begs the question of what other basic concepts the party is struggling with. On the other hand, he said it would be prudent for an explanation to be given as to why a decision was made to postpone the auction if the ultimate objective is to speedup oil exploration. “It is this type of contradictory thinking that permeates their policy-making,” the Economist said.

To further elaborate, the Opposition member referenced the differing positions of the Vice President and Head of State, Irfaan Ali on the subject of renegotiation. “Before the 2020 election, we heard that the PPP wanted to renegotiate this PSA. We then heard the opposite, and that instead they would focus on future PSA’s for other oil blocks. Recently, we have Vice President Jagdeo say the Stabroek PSA would in future be renegotiated. This was immediately contradicted by the President, who said that no such thing would be considered. What in the world is going on? Who is really running the country, the President or his Vice President? In the oil and gas industry, where billions of US dollars are at stake, Guyana cannot afford such confusion,” Low urged.

On Friday, during a media engagement, Jagdeo confirmed that the timeline for the auction has been moved from September to year end, as there are a number of matters that are still under consideration.

The Vice President said too, “We have all of the areas potentially that we are gonna put out to auction. We have 3D seismic for some areas; we have 2D seismic for some areas and we have no data for some areas. Before the end of August, we have to make a determination on whether we will pursue the strategic partnership idea or whether we will put out everything to auction or do a combination of both. Also, we have to decide on the blocks – how we want to split these potential areas and what size these blocks should be so we are going to get technical advice on that.”

Jagdeo added, “We also have to make a decision on whether we will allow existing oil companies in Guyana, particularly ExxonMobil, to participate in the auction and if so, will there be a limit to the number of blocks one person could have or not. We have to also work swiftly – and this is where we may have some delay because we now need to determine the fiscal terms for the new prospecting licences and this brings me to that very, very contentious issue that we have had in the public domain, which is the fairness of the contract and what the future take for Guyana will be.”

The Vice President said the government is trying to put all of this together into a framework that is fair to the investor, so that they get a decent return on their capital while also promoting accelerated exploration.

The decision on the foregoing is expected this month.

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