Latest update December 19th, 2024 3:22 AM
Second audit report handed over to Govt. – Auditor
Chartered Accountant, Floyd Haynes, one of the principals of VHE Consulting (Second audit report handed over to Govt. – Auditor)
Kaieteur News- The back-and-forth continues as it relates to the release of the final version of the second audit of ExxonMobil’s US$7.3 billion Stabroek Block expense for the period 2018 to 2020.
The second audit was conducted by local consortium VHE Consulting, a registered partnership comprising Ramdihal & Haynes Inc., Eclisar Financial, and Vitality Accounting & Consultancy Inc., with international support from SGS and Martindale Consultants. The contract for this audit was valued at US$751,000 (GY$156 million).
On Friday evening, Chartered Accountant Floyd Haynes, one of the principals of VHE Consulting disclosed that the auditing team has submitted the final report to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
“It is now in their possession…Please reach out to them…” Haynes told this publication.
Haynes comments follow that of Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia, who said last Saturday that, “The final audit will be released within the week. I have already given the go ahead to VHE for them to do so.”
However, speaking at his press conference on Thursday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said, “I was very disappointed with the finalization of the second audit internally before it goes to Exxon because there was a football between moving back and forth between the ministry and GRA, so I intervened…”
According to Jagdeo, Commissioner General Statia had informed him the report was completed and they now have to write to ExxonMobil about it.
Kaieteur News had reported that an analysis of the second audit report reveals missing details on key expenditures that were covered in the first oil audit that was done by British firm IHS Markit of the company’s 1999-2017 expenses. IHS had recommended that the Government of Guyana (GoG) disallow US$214 million in costs being claimed by Exxon for the misuse of Guyana’s oil profits and failure to justify expenses. The first report, commissioned by the Coalition government, provided comprehensive data on significant costs, such as those for supply vessels, drill rigs, SURF, helicopter services, and waste management, while these details are notably absent from the audit report by the local consortium.
Currently, citizens can access VHE’s “Initial Audit Report for the Stabroek Block Cost Recovery Audit – 2018 to 2020” on the Ministry of Natural Resources website. That version was published on April 12, 2024 and is 135 pages.
(Second audit report handed over to Govt. – Auditor)
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The stakes are high in Guyana’s democracy
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- In any vibrant democracy, the mechanisms that bind it together are those that mediate differences,... more
Let the asylum seekers go: a first step for Venezuela to rebuild relations in the Americas
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – The government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela has steadfast support from many... more
Weekend Cartoon
