Citizens demand release of ExxonMobil’s expenses during protest

Aug 29, 2023 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

Kaieteur News – A group of citizens on Monday demanded that all of ExxonMobil’s spending be made public during a protest at Houston, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

More than a dozen persons, young and old, held placards in the scorching mid-morning sun demanding a change to the lopsided ExxonMobil contract for the lucrative Stabroek Block.

One protestor shouted, “We ain’t getting nothing; we ain’t getting nothing!” as he held a placard with the phrase “Renegotiate the Stabroek Block! Demand taxes! Ring Fence our oil blocks! Stop burrowing loans!”

Others called for ring-fencing and questioned, “Why isn’t the government putting a meter at the pump to check we oil?”

The majority, however, demanded that government must make public all of ExxonMobil’s expenses.

“Guyanese must see all of ExxonMobil expenses! Why is Jagdeo (Vice-President of Guyana Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo) hiding Exxon’s expenses from us,” they demanded.

Protestors at Houston on Monday

Releasing Exxon’s expenses is a step that the government is unwilling to make. Vice President Jagdeo lost his temper last Thursday when asked about ExxonMobil’s expenses at a press conference held at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC).

So far, ExxonMobil has recovered US-billions in costs related to oil production. Last year alone, the company reported that a whopping US$7.4 billion in expenses were cleared through Guyana’s oil. This was over five times the revenue Guyana earned during the same period which totaled a meager US$1.4 billion.

The Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) Guyana signed with Exxon and partners allow for 75 percent of the revenue to be deducted each month towards the recovery of costs. This means Exxon is repaid a handsome sum of the proceeds each month towards recouping its investment.

In the absence of a ring-fencing provision, the deal sees Exxon recouping costs from an oil-producing project to pay for expenses unrelated to that specific development. For instance, last year, the two producing fields, Liza One and Liza Two generated revenue that paid for the decommissioning (cleanup) costs for the third and fourth oil projects- Payara and Yellowtail, which are yet to commence oil production.

Importantly, the government has been failing to conduct and complete timely audits of the company to verify the expenses being claimed by the Stabroek Block partners. In the meantime, the co-venturers continue to rack up expenses unrestricted, since Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo previously made it clear that in the absence of a “co-management arrangement,” Guyana is restricted to merely checking the bills after they have been submitted. Notably, the lopsided oil deal with Exxon requires the oil companies to furnish the Guyana Government with various documents on their expected expenditure for a given year. They are also required to provide details on how much of their investment has been cleared off using Guyana’s oil.