‘Guyanese must get more from any new oil project’ – David Patterson

Jul 20, 2024 News

Chairman of the AFC, David Patterson

Kaieteur News – Guyanese must benefit more from any new oil project being approved by the Government of Guyana, Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC) David Patterson said on Friday at the party’s weekly press conference.

Patterson was asked by Kaieteur News to state his party’s position on the government’s approval of the seventh oil project with key elements missing, among them, ring-fencing.

“What we would like to see, is a more equitable distribution of the proceeds from oil production. Of course, we are on record saying that any deal, any new deal, any renegotiation, that benefits (Guyanese) because you can renegotiate something and you don’t end up with the benefits,” he said.

Patterson said that any discussion on the benefit of Guyanese stand to accrue will be of the interest to his party. He said while the party accepts that the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) has deficiencies, whatever projects are approved, “we should get more benefits for the Guyanese public and that is the area in which we are working on in our policy in hope to release it one by one, policy by policy in the coming weeks.”

He announced that two weeks from now at his party’s press conferences he, along with Dr. Vincent Adams and Dr. Shameer Ally will be addressing the matter of the party’s oil and gas policy.

The AFC has continuously reaffirmed its commitment to making changes in the Guyana’s oil contract should the party be elected to Government. The AFC was part of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition government when the lopsided 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) was signed with oil giant ExxonMobil.

Patterson said that, “The Alliance For Change is in favour of any revision for any PSA which will be to the benefit of the Guyanese public and we maintain that position. So, any revision that will be benefitting (our people), we will be supporting (it) and I have made this statement in parliament for every budget since 2020.”

The party has been voicing its commitment to renegotiate a better deal for a number of years, and in 2021, Patterson had appeared in an interview on a Kaieteur Radio programme ‘Guyana’s Oil and You’ where he said that during the five years that the APNU/AFC was in government, they did not get a chance to correct the lopsided deal.

Further, Patterson said that should the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government renegotiate the oil contract, then the AFC will offer its “unconditional support.”

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AFC, Guyanese, oil projects, Patterson, renegotiate

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