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Hammerhead and Longtail

Nov 24, 2024 Editorial, News

…Editorial

 Kaieteur News- Fewer Guyanese are deceived by the gaffs about upcoming oil projects heard from Vice President Jagdeo.  There is the seventh project, Hammerhead, which is next in line for approval from Guyana.  Already, ExxonMobil is making introductory noises about an eight oil project, Longtail, even while the seventh is not yet greenlighted.  Jagdeo stated that there is no guarantee that Hammerhead will be cleared to proceed.  Yet ExxonMobil is positioning from now the Longtail project.  Jagdeo could be playing his usual games with ‘no guarantee’ and ‘iffy’, but of one thing Guyanese should make no mistake.  The chiefs at ExxonMobil have their plans well thought-out and space them out to suit its vision for how much it should be doing in Guyana.  In contrast, the PPP/C Government, with Vice President Jagdeo in charge of Guyana’s oil patrimony, gives every appearance of going through the motions, while the American oil major of majors is bent on realizing its oil objectives here, according to its own timetable.

ExxonMobil does not have the seventh oil project in hand, but it is already talking about the eighth one.  In our view that is planting the seed, giving Guyanese notice of what is ahead, and how quickly.  This makes sense from a number of considerations.  It is a product of comprehensive corporate visions, and it must be said that only the company truly knows how much oil has been discovered to date.  Also, the cash flow from Guyana’s oil for the company has been rich and richer, and that spigot must be kept going.  There is a proven way to do so, and with a minimum of pushback: continue to prepare more oil projects for Guyana’s vast Stabroek Block, and then line them up in reasonably quick succession to keep ExxonMobil’s financials soaring consistently.  The company has a ready place to invest its billions lying idle, and for the kind of returns that would be hard to get anywhere else on the planet.  Plus, there is a warehouse of oil production setup to come onstream, at higher and higher daily levels, so ExxonMobil’s Guyana cash cow keeps on producing.  As these projects keep coming off the company’s drawing board, Guyanese hear about them in trickles, and then with a rush, as ExxonMobil intensifies its drive to get them approved.  ExxonMobil is sure to have its overall exploration, investment, and production blueprint that it finetunes when there are new discoveries in the Stabroek Block.  From that blueprint flows Hammerhead and Longtail and others that are right behind them.  To give credit where it is due, ExxonMobil may be many things, but it is not a seat-of-the-pants corporate entity.  It is way ahead of Guyana in the local oil game, knows what it wants, and how to get them to the operational stage.

The same strategic oil thinking has not been evident so far in what has been shared by the Guyana Government, namely Oil Czar Jagdeo.  Take the Hammerhead project as an example.  He knows that after all his hemming and hawing (‘no guarantee; and ‘iffy’) that all he is engaging in is some manner of twisted roleplaying.  When has any of the oil projects approved under his watch been subject to the most thorough and convincing review process.  He pretends that it is so in public, despite ignoring all the warnings and doubts of reputable oil hands.  Additionally, all the concerns and objections raised by Guyanese have fallen on deaf ears (his own).  Public consultations have been a sham, and local anxieties about different projects dismissed with a wave of the hand.  Secrecy and trickery have become commonplace, and when those are spotlighted, the abuse for which the chief policymaker is so well known takes over.  Instead of a partnership with the real owners of the national oil wealth, Jagdeo only priority has been to partner with ExxonMobil and bow to its wishes.

Hammerhead is part of ExxonMobil’s Wishlist, which means that it is guaranteed to be approved, notwithstanding the word games being played by the vice president.  Longtail, the eighth project, is on the same track, which ExxonMobil just cleverly planted on Guyanese.  Watch from now, as ExxonMobil and Jagdeo dance their tight waltz.

(Hammerhead and Longtail)

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