Capacity building, capacity dribbling

Jul 03, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – “So I have no doubt that over the next few years we will substantively increase our capacity to do that to monitor production.” The owner of those words is Guyana’s chief oil policymaker, Bharrat Jagdeo. Currently, Guyana produces approximately 650,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) with the help of ExxonMobil’s worldclass technologies. It is an impressive volume for tiny Guyana, and is set to almost double by 2027, an even more amazing prospect. Common sense demands that a new oil producing country would have monitoring of its daily production as a high priority. Production is money, and lost production is lost profits. Monitoring, therefore, is urgent.

According to Jagdeo this much-needed monitoring will happen “over the next few years.” Trust Jagdeo to come up with words that give him broad wiggle room. “Next few years” could be close (2026-27), or as distant as 2033, or beyond. Even at the closer range (2026-27) that is a situation that any bona fide leading policymaker would find troubling. It is simply unthinkable, has everything about it that is unacceptable at both a management level and the national level. As the man standing as Guyana chief executive of this precious oil wealth, Jagdeo must be aware of the roadblocks that the auditors encountered when they attempted to get close to ExxonMobil’s production site to look at its pumping operations. When a company that is a partner puts up a barricade like that, and against its own partner, then there are no circumstances under which that can be justified, be looked upon favorably.

The questions come swiftly and furiously. Why did ExxonMobil management respond in that manner, viz., stopping Guyana’s audit team? Why was such an action decided to be necessary? What is there to hide? What is the magnitude of what now qualifies to be a deep company secret? At this point, we take the liberty of introducing a simple hypothetical situation. In view of ExxonMobil’s commitment to a culture of impenetrable secrecy in this oil partnership with Guyana, it is compulsory, cannot be avoided.

We mentioned lost production earlier and that it means lost profits for Guyana. Lost production could be through mistakes. Or it could be through human intervention, such as the kind experienced at a gas station when filling up one’s vehicle. In other words, the attendant plays his self-enriching game with the meter, which could be costly to the consumer, if not watched, caught, and corrected. What applies in an everyday set of circumstances takes on a bigger meaning at a distant offshore oil production platform where almost 650,000 barrels of oil is pumped daily. Is 650,000 barrels, as announced, really 650,000 barrels? There is confidence that whatever data capture system ExxonMobil has at the production points, the number is not going to be less, for that would be money out of the company’s pocket. But what if it is, at a conservative estimate, 100,000 more a day than the 650,000 that is broadcast, but hidden from the auditors? If all is on the clean and straight side, then any auditor or inspector would be welcomed with enthusiasm and hospitality. But if it is a 100,000-bpd siphoned off (and this is at the bottom end), then that would represent 36 million barrels annually for which not a cent is coming to Guyana in this tricks-loaded 50:50 sharing arrangement. Using Jagdeo’s monitoring capacity readiness policy of “over the next few years” we are talking about what could be the money from 100 million barrels made to disappear from Guyana’s side of the profit ledger. Should it be more years before Jagdeo’s slow walking monitoring capability at the offshore pumps gets going, the US millions Guyana potentially loses could be in the hundreds. What if it is more than 100,000 bpd is involved, which could be what ExxonMobil blocked the auditors from seeing?

Some of ExxonMobil’s expenses were originally secrets, audit reports secrets. Secretiveness by ExxonMobil at its offshore production stations (auditors blocked) raises deep fears about probable experimenting with the production numbers. But Jagdeo is so unmoved that “over the next few years” before real monitoring is implemented serves Guyana’s interests best. This explains why ExxonMobil loves him so much.

Bharrat Jagdeo, building, capacity, Editorial, Guyana

Latest News

Capacity building, capacity dribbling

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Rana five-for and enterprising batting put Bangladesh in the...

ANSA McAL on board with inaugural National Futsal...

GBF unveils squad for 2024 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup...

Someash Boyer benefits from Project “Cricket...

Several athletes and coaches aiming to benefit...

GAPLF congratulates Dominic Tyrell for taking...

Features/Columnists

Morally Right. Legally wrong

Haiti: Tragically Descending into Deeper Crisis

Is the PPP anti-Guyana?

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Capacity building, capacity dribbling

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]