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Exxon should stop misleading Guyana – Jagdeo says
Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday afternoon lashed out at US oil major- ExxonMobil Guyana accusing the company of misleading Guyanese with recent statements about his financials and investments here.
Hours earlier, ExxonMobil hosted a media backgrounder at its Duke Street, Kingston, Georgetown office, where among other things, the company boasted about how its operations transformed the financial landscape of this country. Taking a break from his usual venue at Freedom House, the VP told reporters at the Office of the President that ExxonMobil should desist from its efforts to mislead the country.
“I heard today that Exxon did a briefing about their investments in Guyana and so I have here a document that apparently they circulated…I looked through this and obviously Exxon is trying to defend its position and its investment in Guyana,” Jagdeo explained. The former President however made it clear that the company will not be given a free pass to misinform the nation about its contributions to the country’s development through tax payments. On the contrary, Jagdeo reminded, “they pay zero taxes.”
The Vice President reasoned that the government has agreed that the 2016 Petroleum Agreement, signed by the former administration is flawed and has made corrections in a new Production Sharing Agreement. The 2026 contract stipulates that Exxon and its subcontractors shall not pay taxes to the government. In the meantime, he said, “They want to speak about the national budget and they have shown the growth in the national budget from 2020 to now and somehow is attributing this to their tax revenue.”
The Vice President pointed out that less than half of this year’s $1.146 trillion budget is funded by oil revenue, but Exxon somehow wants to create the illusion that the massive fiscal plan is fully financed from their taxes. Jagdeo said: “This is very misleading” as he encouraged the company to instead report how much profits it recorded from Guyana.
“What Exxon should focus on is how much money they are making, that’s what they should tell the reporters not how much taxes we are collecting because already we agree that the tax take is lower than what we should be getting and this is not really taxes because none of this comes from taxes except the 2% royalty so it’s not really a tax because they pay zero tax,” the VP quipped.
He continued, “When Exxon does its own PR, I would urge them to keep away from this and maybe talk more about the big question that people been asking- how much money they make on this matter. It irks me same way that they did these billboards that they look like they are financing all our activities in this country.”
The Vice President therefore cautioned Exxon to steer clear of these topics in the future and talk about their profit take over the five years rather than Guyana’s.
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