One ExxonMobil in Guyana is enough, two is frightening

Mar 06, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Guyanese have already had too many close encounters of the worst kind with America’s oil supergiant, ExxonMobil, to even think of another presence of near equivalent stature here. One ExxonMobil is head spinning enough to think of, given its greedy feeding on the wealth of Guyanese. To think of the possibility of another of almost identical greediness could send locals to a psychiatrist. This is what the circling, pending presence of Chevron in Guyana could represent: a doubling of the horrors dumped on Guyanese harboring hopes for some material benefits from their oil wealth.

It was one thing to deal with John Hess, CEO of Hess Corporation. To enhance the fortunes of his company that was stuck in the doghouse, he became the best promoter of Guyana’s oil. At every opportunity, Mr. Hess was busy selling Guyana’s exciting prospects. As he pumped up his company’s prospects, and lifted it off the ground, he snared the interest of Mr. Michael Wirth, CEO of Chevron. Everyone who thought that Hess was a man of loose lips had a surprise coming to them: a US$53B one with Chevron poised to replace Hess Corp as a 30% stakeholder in Guyana’s now legendary Stabroek Block. John Hess fooled everyone: he was not all talk, for he knew what he was doing behind the scenes, which was selling the world class promise of Guyana. Now Guyanese have their own nightmare extending, with having to deal with not one ExxonMobil, but two giant American anacondas.

Mr. Hess used to talk about anything that came to his head, which ranged from the caliber of the government to the ‘guarantee’ given about expected judiciary ruling(s) to the rich oil gushers found in new discoveries. In his untiring efforts to unload his company at an enormous profit, he talked up a storm before everybody. Now the opposite will prevail: Chevron’s Mike Wirth is no John Hess, and tightlipped will be the name of his game. He is not into broadcasting; he is into profit making. If Chevron succeeds in overcoming the objections of ExxonMobil, then Guyanese have this unhealthy prospect of being the pawns of two ruthless American corporate panthers, and one silent Chinese Dragon. It is a scenario straight out of a horror movie.

ExxonMobil is the current lead operator, with Alistair Routledge as ExxonMobil’s powerhouse on the ground in Guyana. Should Chevron get past its hurdles, it is sure to be side by side with ExxonMobil in racing to find more commercially viable oilfields in Stabroek Block, Guyana. There is that US$53B decision that must be recovered, and in the quickest time possible. We urge readers to familiarize themselves with Chevron’s history with the environment. Ecuador stands as a compelling example of how reckless and callous an oil company could be, with Chevron’s dumping over 16 billion gallons of toxic waste into that country’s Amazonian environment. A US$9.5B judgment is still unpaid by Chevron 13 years later, with the icing on the cake being an attorney bribing the Ecuadorean judiciary. Elsewhere, Chevron has been in the middle of oil spills disputes in Angola, and violations of pollution standards in America. Anti-Chevron protestors have been fired upon in Nigeria for its depravities in the Niger Delta, and the company had been the object of outrage in Argentina. In Richmond, California, there is an annual Anti-Chevron Day to draw attention to what protestors call the company’s crimes.

This is a small part of the history of the possibly new partner that Guyanese could be having in the Stabroek Block. The leaders of Guyana have been the worst manifestations of dealing weakly and fearfully with ExxonMobil in numerous areas. With Chevron and Mike Wirth rearing to get going in Guyana’s oilfields, the odds have just multiplied of Guyanese politicians collapsing in more cowardly ways before the two-headed juggernaut that is shaping up to be ExxonMobil-Chevron. Guyanese should get one idea in their heads: the people running oil companies are not angels, there are like ruthless assassins aiming for the kill. The biggest profits by any means are the best kills. Chevron is a twin to ExxonMobil in this regard, as its record proves. Guyanese should beware: the going just got tougher and rougher.

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CEO of Hess Corporation, Editorial, ExxonMobil, Guyana, John Hess

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