‘Stop hiding your head in the sand and deal with issues of Exxon not handing over data to auditors’

‘Stop hiding your head in the sand and deal with issues of Exxon not handing over data to auditors’ – Opposition tells Govt.

Nov 11, 2023 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

Kaieteur News – In response to ExxonMobil Guyana’s refusal to provide raw production data for auditors scrutinizing the company’s US$7.3 billion expenses from 2018-2020, Economic Advisor of the People’s National Congress/ Reform (PNC/R) Elson Low is calling on the Government of Guyana to address the issue instead of burying their heads in the sand.

Economic Advisor to the Opposition, Elson Low

During a press engagement on Thursday, the party was asked by this publication to comment on the recent revelation that the oil company did not provide the team of local and international auditors who collaborated on reviewing ExxonMobil’s expenses with all the data and information they requested from the company. The oil company action was related to the government.

In response, the Opposition emphasized the need for independent verification and criticized the government’s apparent reluctance to engage directly with Exxon on crucial matters.

Low said, “But more than that, our position is that information should be provided to auditors and that it is not acceptable for auditors not to be receiving that information.”

He continued, “We call on the government to go to the operator and to say, this is not acceptable and going forward, we should not be seeing this…The government must stop hiding its head in the stand and deal with these types of issues and the other issues highlighted during the course of this press conference.”

President Irfaan Ali

Notably, on Thursday Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who is the head policymaker of the oil and gas sector, when asked the same question posed to Low, sought to excuse ExxonMobil’s refusal to hand over data saying that if the auditors wanted the information, they could have gotten it from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

This publication recently reported that the auditors were made to relate to the government that they were not provided with all the data and information they requested from the oil company.

Specifically, the team said in a report seen by this newspaper that Exxon was asked to provide a schematic diagram showing all metering points on the Liza Destiny Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel. The auditors said a schematic would provide a visual representation of the physical flow of production as it is produced onto the FPSO through the various types of production equipment, and into the storage tanks.

ExxonMobil Guyana President, Alistair Routledge

Auditors said ExxonMobil was adamant that it would not provide the raw data or the schematic on the amount of oil and gas it produced. Auditors said Exxon, “consistently stated that production information was outside the scope of the cost recovery audit.” Furthermore, Exxon told the auditors that only sales information would be provided.

While they were denied this raw information requested, the auditors said they have no reason to conclude that the production data presented in monthly statements to government would differ from the raw measurement data utilized by Exxon for production management. In addition, Exxon told the auditors that the Government of Guyana has key personnel who are fully aware of all measurement points and are present for calibrations and offloads; hence there is no need to worry.

The audit report seen by this newspaper was prepared by Ramdihal & Haynes Inc., Eclisar Financial, and Vitality Accounting & Consultancy Inc. with backing from Martindale Consultants. It should be noted that this document prepared by the auditing team led by Chartered Accountant, Floyd Haynes is yet to be released to the public.

Kaieteur News had previously reported that the audit contract that was awarded to Haynes and his team back in 2022 for US$751,000 had a strict four-month deadline for completion. Notably, the US$7.3B costs which the auditors examined pertain to the investments for the Liza Phase One and Liza Phase Two Projects which are currently producing approximately 400,000 barrels of oil per day.

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Alistair Routledge, Economic Advisor to the Opposition, Elson Low, ExxonMobil Guyana President, President Irfaan Ali

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