Anything to get away from renegotiating the Exxon contract

Nov 09, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Leaders in the PPP/C Government think they are smart and smooth. It is revealing as to the lengths to which our Leaders in Government would go to deny any conversation, to diminish any movement, towards renegotiation of the 2016 oil contract that Guyana has with ExxonMobil. When renegotiation is the issue at hand, the President and Vice President are busy sabotaging all efforts towards that end.

First, it was President Ali on international television, Al-Jazeera, with a mouthful of jazz about Eco-tourism and Food Security. He was not just off subject, President Ali made sure to deliberately bury himself in ecotourism and food security. It would have been better if Guyana’s Head-of-State had done what is now the norm of his Government, which is to duck interviews and Press Conferences, so as to avoid sharing clean and clear information with the Guyanese people. Or so as not to answer the hard questions that he knows are now going to come about oil and gas because straight answers are not given to Guyanese.

Then, it was the Hon. Vice President, Bharat Jagdeo’s, turn in the public eye. Once again, it was the same story of leadership dodging through distractions to disengage anxious Guyanese from the issue of paramount importance, which is renegotiation of the 2016 contract between Guyana and ExxonMobil. The Vice President’s focus was on the auction of oil blocks, and his brand new talking toy, the new Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). When closely examined, what came across was how both President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo were trying their hardest to get Guyanese to focus on anything, but renegotiation of the 2016 contract.

So that everyone understands where we at this publication are, eco-tourism and food security are serious matters, but they have their place, and both should have been much lower down on President Ali’s list of top priorities and talking points. The same must be said for a rewarding auctioning of our oil blocks, and the revised financial terms of a new PSA. For emphasis, those are positive developments, but they fade into insignificance before the biggest whale of an issue that is before us. All other matters are aced by renegotiation of our oil contact with ExxonMobil and its other profiteering partners.

Out of sheer necessity, it is compulsory that oil and gas is the first, second, and third items on the list of any Government of Guyana Leader participating in a media interview, be it with local professionals or those that are foreign based. Whenever oil is pushed into the conversation, it must take center stage, which means that renegotiation of the oil contract is a must.

Renegotiation has to be a ‘must-be’ aspect of such interviews. Renegotiation and how we are being robbed must be brought to the attention of the whole world. And renegotiation and how Guyana must get more, must do better, and must be a real partner (and not some straggler and hanger-on), pounded and hammered into the consciousness of all who listen. This is so the world is made aware of the unconscionable deal, the full-out highway banditry, executed by the corporate villains and scoundrels at ExxonMobil and Hess.

When we study how President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo are attempting to let ExxonMobil off the hook, and also pull the wool over the eyes of locals, we detect their usual trickiness and slipperiness when it comes to confronting ExxonMobil and dealing with the American supergiant. The President and Vice President are twisting themselves into knots so as not to face ExxonMobil and demand more through renegotiation.

The 2016 oil deal is bad, and the world knows that Guyanese have been had. ExxonMobil was ruthless, and for this reason alone, the PPP/C Government and its Leaders should not be doing the company any favors, or giving it any space, where renegotiation is concerned. Our people are hungry, and we must get more now. Our people can’t make ends meet in the richest country in the world (by computer calculator), and the PPP/C Government shrinks from tabling renegotiation as their highest priority. The leadership dodges and distractions will only work and last so long. Change must come, and it starts with immediate renegotiation.

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Anything to get away from renegotiating the Exxon contract

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