Latest update June 14th, 2026 12:45 AM
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Guyana and OPEC
Kaieteur News – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been courting Guyana to join the exclusive club of oil producers. According to the Wall Street Journal, mighty Saudi Arabia has been engaging top Guyanese political leaders for several months now to join OPEC (‘OPEC woes Guyana, tiny nation that sits atop massive oil field’ -WSJ, June 26). According to OPEC, however, it has not. Still, Vice President Jagdeo, Guyana’s oil sector head has firmly declined a tempting situation.
We think that this is a good decision. Though membership in OPEC has distinct advantages for a new producer, Guyana could find itself trapped in production cuts, as dictated by the more powerful producers in the organization. This could be counter to the visions and plans of the government, and a backward step for the nation as whole. The last place that Guyana should want to be is in an entity like OPEC, which is usually locked in fierce differences with the West, especially America. We do not think that leaders in the PPPC Government want to be on the wrong side of the US. In view of longstanding American interferences and influence in our national elections, neither of the two major political parties in Guyana would be regarded very favorably should the decision be to join OPEC.
On a sobering note, and again notwithstanding OPEC’s membership benefits, does Guyana wish to be a participant in production moves that usually result in whipsawing national economies around the world. On the one hand, production cuts, a staple of OPEC’s supply management, ratchets up pressures and distresses on poor countries and their people. People just like Guyanese, but without any oil wealth. On the other hand, decisions to increase supply on a structured basis to flood the market could be counter to Guyana’s calculations of where oil prices should be, and what such mean for the local economy.
Vice President Jagdeo is quoted in the Journal’s article referenced above, as saying, “Right now, the idea is to get as much as these resources out of the ground as quickly as possible given we are not sure of the window in the future”. Simply put, Guyana is pumping what it can today because there is uncertainty about markets and prices tomorrow. We hear the Vice President, and we can support that position, but only if two conditions are satisfied, both of them, and both to the fullest extent that can be had.
First, as ExxonMobil races ahead with increased production levels, Guyana must be protected. Guyana’s environment, Guyana’s economy, and the destiny of the Guyanese people must all be safeguarded to the fullest. The only acceptable way for the fulfillment of that requirement is through a parent company guarantee. Second, as Guyana approves new projects to facilitate more production, the 2016 oil contract that ExxonMobil imprisoned this country and its peoples with must be broken away from, and renegotiated for better terms for Guyana. This is a nonnegotiable condition of current and increased future production. To present in a different way: production is dependent on renegotiation for improved safety and money conditions for Guyana.
A follow-up comment that came from Vice President Jagdeo on the OPEC issue is intriguing, “We just want to hug a corner for the time being and get our national act right.”Coming from Guyana’s oil leader, Jagdeo, interpreting “to hug a corner” is straightforward, for it means keep production going at the rapid rate that has been pushed by ExxonMobil, and keep the American company and America happy. Unfortunately, when Jagdeo says “get our national act right” that signifies nothing other than the murky, underground, manner in which he gets business done, and what has characterized how he has managed the sensitive responsibilities placed in his hand. He has not piloted this oil sector in a way that could be called “right.” He has not done “right” by this nation, despite making every promise, and in the clearest terms that possible. With his return to power, Jagdeo is supposed to be the man of the hour, yet the days pass him by. Guyana is not joining OPEC anytime soon, ExxonMobil had nothing to worry about, such a no brainer that issue was.
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