Happy for Suriname

Oct 09, 2024 Editorial

Editorial…

Kaieteur News – “I am happy for Suriname, very happy for them that they have worked very hard to get this deal,” said Guyana’s Bharat Jagdeo when asked about the oil contract signed by neighbours to the East. We at this paper would have been happy also if Guyana’s oil chief had manifested the same hard work to get a better deal from ExxonMobil for the rich Stabroek oil basin.

Not only the government has not “worked very hard” (to reuse his words), or shown much boldness to get more for Guyana, the leading opposition parties are also so scared of upsetting ExxonMobil that the word ‘renegotiate’ causes fits. Guyanese politicians aspire to power, fight tooth and nail for power, and when they get power, they become impotent.

Guyana’s oil chief embarrasses himself whenever he speaks. He did not think that Suriname was boasting about its better oil deal. This was notwithstanding the comparison made to the one that Guyana signed under the APNU+AFC coalition, and which Jagdeo’s PPPC Government has kept in the same state that robs Guyanese with every barrel of oil produced. The 6.25% royalty figure and 36% tax rate that Suriname “worked very hard” for may not qualify as a boast for Guyana’s chief oil policymaker, but it was certainly a putdown of this country.

Why even mention Guyana, make the comparison, then? It is Jagdeo at his clever best, because he sees a possible challenge to his so-called “better contract management” mantra, which is about talking plenty and doing little of merit for a better oil deal from ExxonMobil. Instead, he makes a big production out of the new Production Sharing agreement (PSA) which has its positives, but tellingly does not apply to the Stabroek Block over which ExxonMobil enjoys an unchallenged monopoly. Guyanese know little of what ExxonMobil is doing out there, and as for the billions in expenses spent by the company that is a tightly guarded secret, with the PPP/C Government a party to the concealment.

In his normal manner, Guyana’s oilman preferred to distract citizens by talking up the Local Content Law and the Wales Gas-to-Energy project. The former finds Guyanese businesses scrambling to keep pace with the rapid approval of new oil projects, and not quite ready to maximize their participation in the ballooning oil and gas sector. Hence, some of the activities and profits that should come to Guyanese, go to foreign entities that have the skills, track record, and other specifications to capitalize on this country’s oil patrimony. Also, while the Local Content Law does open the door to jobs, the reality is that they are mainly lower level, and often menial jobs that Guyanese fill.

Guyana doesn’t have the capacity for its citizens to take the fullest advantage of standing Local Content Law, but Jagdeo and his government still rush the approval of new oil projects, as if their pants are on fire. Or the people at ExxonMobil are holding a gun to their heads. Relative to the gas-to-energy project, the current cost stands at US$2B, and no Guyanese outside of the PPPC Government’s and Jagdeo’s trusted inner circle know any details about the feasibility of this project. Despite being asked on numerous occasions, and in different ways, the man who is selling this project to Guyana, Vice President Jagdeo, has been about sealed lips and, on any of his many bad days, torrents of abuse.

The Surinamese have come out into the open and leveled with their people. Here is the deal that has been signed, here is what to expect under different scenarios. Responsible governments and leaders make that their consistent standard. Ask Jagdeo to be forthcoming and it is either viciousness or his usual sidestepping or stonewalling. He has become very comfortable kissing up to ExxonMobil by doing nothing that tampers with the 2016 oil deal. In Jagdeo’s mind, it is about survival, and Guyanese can starve for all that such matters to him. He is happy for Suriname, and he is happiest doing his best to keep ExxonMobil happy. The question that Guyanese must decide for themselves is whether Jagdeo is a leader or a dodger, a fighter for Guyana or a silent partner of ExxonMobil.

Bharat Jagdeo, citizens, ExxonMobil, Guyana’s, PPPC Government

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