Three firms bid to audit Exxon’s 2021, 2022, 2023 expenses

Mar 13, 2024 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

– as Govt. yet to release findings of two prior reports

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Government recently received three proposals from local and international consultants interested in conducting the third audit of ExxonMobil’s expenses for the period 2021 to 2023.

The Ministry of Natural Resources, the executing agency for the project, had previously sought consulting services for ‘Cost Recovery Audit and Validation of the Government of Guyana’s Profit Oil Share for the period 2021 to 2023.’

At the opening of tenders at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office, it was revealed that the three bidders are: VHE Consulting (which is a registered partnership between Ramdihal & Haynes Inc; Eclisar Financial; and Vitality Accounting & Consultancy Inc.); Grant Thorton UK LLP and PKF Barcellos Narine & Company; and M. Sukhai & Company (local) in joint venture with Info Works Solutions Ltd.

According to the tender, the Terms of Reference (ToRs) said the successful consultant is required to conduct a pre-audit analysis; devise an effective audit plan inclusive of an appropriate methodology; execute the audit in adherence to the provisions of the Stabroek Block Petroleum Agreement and applicable local laws, regulations, and procedures; as well as international good practices and standards.

The scope of works also includes conducting verifications of the crude oil valuation pursuant to the provisions of the petroleum agreement for the audit period as well as verifying royalties remitted to the government for the said period. Additionally, the selected company will also be required to validate the accuracy of the total government share of petroleum for the period under review, and assessing the impact of the audit on future profit oil revenues.

This project marks the third such audit the Guyana Government has embarked on. Kaieteur News had reported that the first audit was done by a British firm, IHS Markit for the period 1999 to 2017. That audit examined expenses totalling US$1.7B. While the report for this exercise has been completed, it has never been released to the public.

The second audit was done by a local group, Ramdihal & Haynes Inc., Eclisar Financial, and Vitality Accounting & Consultancy Inc. bolstered by the international support of SGS and Martindale Consultants. That audit examined expenses totalling US$7.3B covering the period 2018 to 2020. Findings on the second audit were also not made public by the government.

At a weekly press conference just recently, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo promised that he will find out why the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is taking so long to release the reports of two audits on billions of US Dollars in expenses racked up By ExxonMobil from 1999 to 2020.

It must be noted that the two audit reports handed over to the government were never released through the appropriate government channels. Instead, the documents were leaked to sections of the media that widely publicized the findings.

The Vice-President has repeatedly said that he and his Cabinet want to stay far away from getting involved with audits to avoid political interference and has directed the media to get the documents from GRA because it has the authority to make them public.

However, three years have passed and the agency has failed to release the two audit reports to the public.

2021 to 2023, bid, expenses, ExxonMobil, third audit, Three consultants

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