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‘Exxon deal lopsided but not illegal’ – says Attorney General Nandlall
Kaieteur News- While confessing that no contract is crafted in stone, Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall has defended the government’s position to not enter into renegotiations out of fear that ExxonMobil Guyana would sue Guyana for Breach of Contract.
The Minister gave his views in a recently televised interview where he explained that while there are ways “and means by which you can come out of a contract.”
He expanded, pointing to instances of duress, fraud, illegalities, and undue influence among other factors.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC
The Minister was adamant that none of these existed at the time of the signing of the Production Sharing Agreement. As such, in a direct message to citizenry championing the call for contract renegotiations, the Minister for Legal Affairs said the contract directly stipulates that the contract cannot be renegotiated except with the expressed consent of the other side.
Once signed and executed, the contract, Nandlall said remains binding, and further it dictates that government cannot pass any law, “can’t enter into any contract and can’t do anything that would affect the current obligations of the contractor; and if the government passes a law that changes the obligations that currently exists on the operator that the government has to compensate the operator.
He contends that in the event of renegotiation “not only would we be breaching the contract and if Exxon sues us, and they think, those who are championing the cause to breach the contract, they are talking about liability, then you will understand liability if they decide to sue.”
Queried on the exploitative nature of the PSA and whether the previous administration was simply taken advantage of by the company, Nandlall responded saying, “ExxonMobil has a reputation, I would never defend ExxonMobil, read about ExxonMobil’s International reputation that is what they do, that is what aggressive companies do but is doesnt make it illegal.” According to Nandlall however, it simply isn’t a case where the legality of the contract has never been challenged, “they challenged the contract on a whole set of grounds.”
These he noted included challenges to its constitutionality, the tax concessions regime granted “and all of that were copiously and forensically examined by a judge and rejected.” Minister Nandnall was adamant that the lopsided nature of the agreement sits squarely at the feet of the ousted A Partnership for National Unity, Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), since they ought to have been better prepared and advised in 2016.
Doubling down further, Minister Nandlall was adamant, “this contract has constricted us within its four corners, the licences that have to be issued under these contracts are also so constricted because the terms of the licence have to be consistent with the terms of the contract.”
According to Nandlall, while the discretion afforded to the substantive minister with responsibility for the sector, at face value appears to be unfettered, he is still in fact, confined within the four corners within which the licence has boxed in the State.
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