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ExxonMobil slapped Guyana with US$58.5M in COVID-19 bills for 2020

Oct 22, 2023 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

– included US$18M for chartered flights

Kaieteur News – A team of local and international auditors examining ExxonMobil Guyana’s expenses for the period 2018 to 2020 found that the company submitted US$58.5M in COVID-19 bills of which US$18M was dedicated for chartered flights. Notably, the auditing period only examined the first year, 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit these shores.

Significantly, auditors said the COVID-19 costs were not incurred just in Guyana, but also in Houston, the United Kingdom, and Trinidad and Tobago. Those costs were in separate files labeled Houston Facility costs, United Kingdom (UK) Facility costs, Flights, Guyana Facility, etc.

In total, auditors found that the Stabroek block account was charged 90% of the COVID-19-related costs, while Canje and Kaieteur [a block it walked away from earlier this year] received 10% in total.

This newspaper understands that Exxon charged approximately US$9,000,000 for recoverable hotel and hotel-related costs, the majority of which was for the Atlantic Hotel (Marriott) in Guyana that included blocks of rooms whether occupied or vacant. Other hotel costs were for Cara Lodge and Pegasus Hotel in Guyana and hotels in Trinidad, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. used for quarantining individuals prior to traveling to Guyana.

Exxon also charged approximately US$18,000,000 for COVID-19-related chartered flights, including travel voucher taxes, and pre-flight COVID-19 tests, aviation fuel, and catering for flights. Chartered flights from London using British Airways totaled US$1,300,000 while flights from Huston using United Airlines were US$1,200,000.

Exxon also charged approximately US$2,000,000 for various medical staffing and supplies, including test kits, nurses, masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. The oil giant also charged approximately US$11,000,000 for staging employees for operations, including staging coordinators, security, medical, and catering specific to operations.

Kaieteur News also learnt that Exxon charged approximately US$210,000 for facility management expenses such as janitorial, tent rentals, electrical and generator repairs, and various sanitization supplies. It also charged approximately US$1,300,000 of employee or affiliate costs for standby, quarantine, and staging costs.

The contract to audit ExxonMobil’s bills totalling US$7.3B for the period 2018 to 2020 was awarded last May to Ramdihal & Haynes Inc., Eclisar Financial, and Vitality Accounting & Consultancy Inc. The local consortium was supported by international firms- SGS and Martindale Consultants. The audit report prepared by the team is yet to be released to the public. It is in the process of being reviewed by the relevant authorities.

Importantly, the audit process did not sample every bill associated with the US$7.3B expenditure. Auditors only reviewed a sample of the bills. The local and international team of experts was given a four-month deadline to complete the audit.

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