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Half a billion

Oct 30, 2024 Editorial, News

….Editorial

Half a billion barrels of oil pumped is a landmark for any new oil producing country.  ExxonMobil is set to reach that mark by year end, should everything hold steady.  This is the sweetness that American oilmen harvest from Guyana’s rich Stabroek Block oilfields within a few short years.

This is the bitterness with which more and more resentful Guyanese live, develop sharper animosities against.  When they look at their own circumstances and compare where they are to what ExxonMobil is reaping, their anger intensifies.

The APNU+AFC Coalition government all but gave away Guyana’s oil patrimony.  There is that odious 2016 Production Sharing Agreement that the Coalition signed that enslaves and economically deprives Guyanese for decades to come.  Senior oil executives can boast about higher and higher daily production levels, and now this anticipated half a billion barrels of total production by December 31st. Given the rich contract terms that ExxonMobil enjoys, it makes sense for it to stretch the safety envelope and pump more oil daily.

Oil prices are at high enough levels to galvanize profitmaking, and there is demand to absorb the oil that the company brings up.  The CEO of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, can brag to the world about his company’s world-class portfolio and its record profits.  He has been thoughtful enough to say a few words about the significance of Guyana’s Stabroek Block and how much it has contributed to ExxonMobil’s bottom line.  This is part of the stream of pluses for the American oil giant, and Guyana has much to do with those.  Then, there are the negatives, which even the Government of Guyana that has a duty to represent all citizens speak sparingly about.  But then only when pressed against its will.

While ExxonMobil is proud to broadcast this bright vision of half a billion barrels to be produced within the remaining nine weeks of this year, there is the other, darker side of that coin.  Half a billion barrels of oil against their name, and close to half of the Guyanese population is left to deal with the negatives that have been their lot.

The first is a pot of food that is less than half full, and which is all that they can manage most days.  The second is that of their families staring at plates of food that are down to the last morsels, while gnawing hunger is still their companion, what haunts their existence.  In a country that is on pace to produce a half billion barrels of oil soon, this is where Guyanese are, if they are among the lucky ones.  Hunger haunts them, while being reminded through fresh statistics that they are among the richest people in the world. We at this publication believe that there is something about that (being the richest) that must taunt Guyanese.

The PPPC Government knew all along that citizens were fighting a losing battle with cost-of-living, but it still was so miserly with oil money that it punished them.  Despite promising to ‘review and renegotiate’ the 2016 ExxonMobil oil contract, government leaders have since walked back on that commitment, with no indication or intention of ever budging.  The price to be paid is too high: there is the specter of the possible loss of power.  For the same reason, the Opposition that dug this hole for Guyanese is similarly cagey when the issue of renegotiation of the oil contract is brought up.  Guyanese politicians feel good about themselves to talk about the future. What they plan to do. How much money is expected to flow from the oil. Today, hundreds of thousands of Guyanese dread thinking of where their next meal is going to come from, how they are going to cope. Rather belatedly, the PPPC Government now rushes forward with a cash handout of a $100,000 for all Guyanese over 18.  This is what being the owners of billions of barrels of oil delivers to Guyanese. It is the puzzle of half a billion barrels of oil to be pumped by yearend, while Guyanese live in pain. This is Guyanese reality. The entire cohort of current politicians should be kicked out. Guyanese could have a chance of doing better, breathing easier.

(Half a billion)

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