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ExxonM’s head refutes Jagdeo’s claim on closure of US$214M audit
Kaieteur News – Head of ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, Alistair Routledge has confirmed that the controversial audit into his company’s US$1.7B expenses remains ongoing. The Country Manager’s statement was in stark contrast to a previous announcement by Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo that the audit was closed with US$214M in disputed costs.
ExxonMobil Guyana Head, Alistair Routledge
Kaieteur News tried to contact the Vice President several times yesterday about this anomaly. At press time, there was no response. Routledge provided this clarification during a press engagement at his company’s Duke Street, Kingston, Georgetown office. There, the Country Manager sought to address what he perceived to be several misconceptions about the audit which has attracted scathing criticism in recent months.
Kaieteur News had reported that British firm- IHS Markit was hired in 2019 by the former APNU+AFC Government to conduct an audit into expenses incurred for the period 1999 to 2017. The company had produced a report in 2021 where it flagged over US$214M in questionable spending. The Ministry of Natural Resources, which was overseeing the audit process, was forced to conduct a probe after it was found that one of its officials, Senior Petroleum Coordinator, Gopnauth Bobby Gossai, engaged Exxon in the unauthorized reduction of the US$214M sum to US$3M.
Following the investigation, the ministry issued a statement to the effect that Gossai will face disciplinary action for deviating from Guyana Revenue Authority’s advice to close the audit at US$214M. During the press briefing, Routledge said expenses incurred by ExxonMobil for the oil-rich Stabroek Block are reviewed by “four sets of eyes”, adding that it is therefore not unusual for State auditors in their independent audit to flag minimal sums for query. “We are audited by our co-venturers (which include Hess Corporation and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited) who have just as much interest as the government in ensuring all the costs that go into cost recovery pool are appropriate and are in line with the standards you would expect. Similarly, we have internal and external auditors so; at least four sets of eyes will be looking at these expenses,” the Country Manager said.
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo
In the audit done by IHS Markit, Routledge said one has to consider the fact that the audit only began in 2019 with the objective of reviewing records covering 18 years (1999 to 2017). “We have had to through (hundreds of) boxes to find the right pieces of paper in support of those expenses. It is a normal process but it is just that the audit started very, very late. We are much more supportive of regular and timely auditing; so usually the year after a period of expenses is (incurred) is when you would do an audit…because the people who are handling the documents are still around and the costs are still fresh in people’s minds,” Routledge explained.
The Country Manager also made it clear that his company is desirous of proving that all of its expenses totalling US$1.7B for the period 1999 to 2017 are justifiable. In fact, he said Exxon has been able to locate records to cover about 90 percent of the US$214M that was flagged in the 2021 IHS Report. He said also that Exxon received a letter from the Guyana Revenue Authority last week indicating that IHS has been re-engaged to review the documentation that is now available to support most of the US$214M expenditure. Routledge said he believes this re-engagement is critical since IHS had stopped working on the audit in early 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Routledge said subsequent to that, his company was able to find documents which IHS did not see. Kaieteur News understands that GRA is assisting in ensuring that review is done now by IHS.
Since 2015, ExxonMobil Guyana has led a consortium with Hess Corporation and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited in the Stabroek Block where 11 billion barrels of oil have been unlocked via more than 32 significant discoveries. The Exxon partners have thus far committed to spending more than US$40B in five development projects, a staggering investment scale that eclipses Guyana’s 2023 national budget by more than 10 times.
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