Is Guyana a Gangster Paradise?

Sep 03, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Guyana is handling its oil wealth with all the wisdom of a blind man, who has increased his limitations by wrapping a kerchief around his nose, and put ear plugs in his ear. Guyana started out not seeing and not knowing what is happening with its vast sea of oil 200 kilometers offshore. And, this country, through the PPPC Government, has made the situation worse by blocking its nose so that it cannot have a scent of what is in the air out there with its oil, while also preventing its ears from picking up any signals that more attention must be constantly focused on this depleting commodity.

Neither country nor government is positioned close enough, nor is bright enough, to wrap arms around this precious oil wealth, and the depths of its operations. Guyana is ill-equipped to see what is going on, it does not want to hear where it is going wrong, and there is definitely no smell test that gives some idea of where things truly stand with offshore oil production. The distance of 120 miles (200 km) might as well be as far as Mars, where Guyana is concerned. This country has the faintest idea of what really goes on offshore, or closely survey what lies at its feet. Guyana does not and cannot monitor the vital aspects of its oil partnership enterprise. Taking ExxonMobil’s numbers is surrendering to covetousness. No tools or too few tools mean bowing to ignorance. This is a tailor-made disaster for a country already taken advantaged of through an unimaginably horrible one-sided contract. Being unable and unwilling, through the PPPC Government not making monitoring of oil production a very high priority, is the equivalent of recklessly entrusting this nation’s prosperity into the hands of ExxonMobil. It is patrimony casually surrendered to a partner, and even a blood brother could be tempted to help himself.

From all indications, the PPPC Government is content to be spoon-fed by ExxonMobil with numbers furnished by the company. This is insane. This is nothing short of amazing, to be so wholly dependent on the numbers and representations of a partner in a dog-eat-dog business. It is unbelievable that any government, any oil commissioner, would trust its present and its destiny so much to a partner, one with less than a stellar reputation. The record of ExxonMobil in the United States, and in most places where its huge footprint is firmly planted, has generated considerable anger, disappointment, and regret at what the company has presented as its version of accounting. Whether about climate change related documentation, or other oilfield statistics, it has been a troubled history, one that stretches credibility. It speaks of being all for itself, and wringing the last dollar out of an oilfield, project, or contract.

But this is the partner in which the PPPC Government and its high-ranking people place all their confidence. Truth be told, listening to the carefully presented words and postures of the government, it is obvious that there is greater trust, a more intimate relationship, with ExxonMobil, than with locals. Guyanese critical of how the oil companies carry on their business feel the distaste and wrath of both government and its chief oil people. The savvy operators at ExxonMobil are given a handshake, while concerned Guyanese are given a hard kick.

In a business that has been characterized by knowing insiders and outside observers as cutthroat from the inception, yet the Government of Guyana places its eggs in ExxonMobil’s basket. With the record of oil behemoths in general, and poor host countries, as specific reminders, the government of today and the people at the helm of this massive national wealth are a picture of serenity, where there are abundant opportunities for playing games with oil production numbers and gouging Guyana. Advanced technology, or independent outsiders could help reduce the monitoring deficit. The PPPC Government, however, dismisses such recommendations.

Guyana has been gouged from the beginning by ExxonMobil with its oil. Again and again, the people that are elected to stand as stewards over this oil helps in the gouging of the Guyanese people. Monitoring, and not just production, should have been a must, and now rises to high urgency.

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