Let the nation know now!

Aug 23, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – A document is circulating which suggests that at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the APNU+AFC government reportedly made a decision that allowed oil companies operating in the Kaieteur and Stabroek Blocks to disregard the period from March 10, 2020, to March 2021, when calculating the elapsed time since the grant of exploration licences.

The period elapsed is important because it determines the deadline by which the oil companies have to surrender 20% of their oil blocks. The government can then demand better terms when auctioning these oil block.

As such, the approval purportedly granted by the former APNU+AFC government amounts to constructive an extension to the oil companies for the surrendering of the oil blocks. But that is only half of the story as the same approval has a caveat in which the decision is subject to approval every three months.

When the present government announced that the oil companies were granted an extension by virtue of the pandemic a force majeure, this decision drew heavy criticism, including from this newspaper. One of those criticisms was that the pandemic should not be used as a force majeure because the oil companies’ operatio0n were deemed an essential service and did work during the pandemic, including flying in staff from overseas.

This newspaper carried a blistering front page comment. The comment argued that by allowing ExxonMobil and the other oil companies to retain these blocks for an additional year, the government is enabling the oil companies to map out the entirety of the lucrative Stabroek Block and then hand back, next year, unproductive assets.

The newspaper reminded the government that it has vowed to address the lopsided Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), and had promised better contract management. It accused the government of reneging on its promise to renegotiate the oil deal and now retreating from their pledge to have better contract management

The blame game has started. The PPP/C now appears to be shifting the blame to the previous administration.

However, it needs to be asked whether the current government effectively reviewed the decision and its implications in a timely manner. The purported approval by the APNU+AFC government included a mechanism for quarterly reviews to assess the necessity of any adjustments. This implies that the PPP/C government had ample opportunity since Aug 2020, to reevaluate the extension and whether it was justified by a force majeure.

The APNU+AFC approval clearly stated, “The timeline will be reviewed on a quarterly basis to determine whether adjustments to this period are warranted, the first such  review being on 9^th September.” So did the PPP/C government – which took office on 2^nd August 2020 – undertake the required reviews? And what was its decision? Tell the nation, now!

Since the original purported approval of the extension, twelve (12) quarters have elapsed. This means that the PPP/C had 12 opportunities to reverse the decision but did not so do. And it still has the opportunity to do so! Did it agree that a basis existed in March 2020 and subsequently for a continuance of the review?

It is imperative to ascertain whether these reviews were conducted and, if so, what outcomes emerged from these assessments. The issue at hand goes beyond partisan politics; it pertains to the responsible management of a nation’s valuable resources.

For the PPP/C government to bolster its implied claim of innocence in the matter, it must provide clear evidence that it undertook the prescribed reviews and rigorously assessed the implications of the extension.

The extension of oil exploration licences has significant economic and environmental implications. As oil companies continue their activities within these blocks, the nation’s natural resources are at stake. This newspaper has warned of the possibility of the oil companies using the extension to map out their entire oil blocks and handing over to Guyana unproductive assets.

The controversy surrounding the extension of the period for surrendering the 20% of the oil blocks should force a closer examination of the actions and decisions of the PPP/C government. To dispel doubts and address public concerns, the government must provide a transparent account of the review process it undertook, if it did so.

It should also report on the rationale behind its decision to allow the original extension to stand. His would settle the debate and provide the basis for the public to decide whether a terrible mistake was made originally and then compounded during the review process.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• APNU+AFC, Blocks, elapsed, pandemic, Peeping Tom

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