John Hess, adviser

Oct 04, 2024 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Americans are resourceful people. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) barred John Hess, CEO of Hess Corporation, and a 30% partner in the ExxonMobil-led Guyana offshore consortium, from being a director on the Chevron board. Chevron’s CEO, Mike Wirth, the buyer of Hess Corporation’s 30% stake in Guyana’s Stabroek Block, was initially taken aback. Where is the harm, how could there be anything foul with John being on Chevron’s board? The setback barely gave pause to Chevron’s wisemen, of whom Mike Wirth is the wisest.With typical American ingenuity, Chevron and Hess concocted a sweet, long-lasting toffee that is all upside for both sides to the still pending Hess to Chevron deal. John Hess will now serve as an adviser to Chevron on government relations in Guyana.

Chevron started out on the right foot in its choice of the knowledgeable, energetic Hess for government adviser. Hess knows the top political players in Guyana like the back of his hand. There is a school of thought in Guyana that, despite being a junior partner in the ExxonMobil consortium, John Hess has Guyana’s leading government presences eating of his hand. Hess is in such lockstep with the PPPC Government that he could have all but ‘guaranteed’ the ruling on a matter before the Guyana courts involving full parent company oil spill coverage. His guarantee was not based on guesswork, nor some superior intellect, nor even the accumulated wisdom of how governments function in Guyana. Rather, Mr. Hess’s basis for his mindboggling ‘guarantee’ on the outcome of a local judicial proceeding was from an unchallengeable source. It was straight from the heart of the Guyana Government and at head height also, as if to round off some grand bargain. It was Mr. Hess himself who all but said so publicly. Though this opens the issue of political interference in the local judiciary, we at this publication steer clear of such ideas, such not unreasonable interpretations of what came from the Hess CEO. This gathers considerable strength when the alleged source of Mr. Hess’s bold statement about a ‘guarantee’ made its way into the public domain.

With Mr. Hess by his elbow, Chevron’s Mike Wirth just gave himself the best edge that could be conceived. America’s FTC can stew in its own broth, and may it be a high temperature for those commissioners who voted against Hess’s presence on Chevron’s board. This role for Hess as adviser on government relations is priceless. It did more than neutralize the bar from Chevron board service; it just made official the wheeling and dealing for which oil companies are so notorious. In Guyana, and with the PPPC Government in charge, this is the best combination of circumstances that any of the oil powers or government involved parties could have concocted. John Hess because of his still viable presence as an ExxonMobil partner has access to the highest levels of the PPPC Government. Due to the intimate relationships cultivated, there is confidence in the rewarding two-way street association. In fact, at one time, it was the same Hess CEO who took it upon himself to pronounce with some vigor and conviction about the democratic nature of the government of Guyana.

Clearly, John Hess has exhibited all the persuasive attributes of a man about town in Guyana. To be clear, not in the streets, but to the point where his mind and that of most of the leading members of the PPPC Government are as one. Mike Wirth and Chevron just dealt themselves a deck full of aces in settling for the government advisory role of John Hess. The American ambassador and America’s CIA are reduced to a pale shadow when compared to the reach and results that Hess could and would produce. The Chevron people may have thought that they bought an oilman and his prized piece of Guyana’s now legendary Stabroek Block. The bonus is that they also bought a goldmine in Hess for all the nuggets he is sure to produce from the wide rich PPPC Government leadership pit. It is bottomless one with much danger for Guyanese. The Hess government advisory duty just gave Chevron a seat in Guyana’s cabinet, if not its Office of the President.

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Chevron, Clearly, Guyana, Hess CEO, Mr. Hess, PPPC Government

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