Exxon should pay us for the use of our oil assets

May 28, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

There is an interesting debate going on about the ownership of assets paid for by our country for the oil industry.

It is very intriguing, some may even say incredulous, to hear the VP, of all people, say that assets paid for by our country do not belong to us, but to Exxon. That statement defies logic, or was made out of sheer ignorance of what an asset is, or made with an intention to deceive. But who knows, it might be that the supposedly evergreen VP had a senior moment.

After all, he has been a member of the illustrious 60-plus club for more than a year now – yes, since January 2024. But maybe the all-knowing VP just got carried away in his eagerness to be on the side of Exxon, at the expense of Guyanese.

Simply put, the issue could be likened to someone purchasing a car on credit from an auto dealer, and after paying all your installments for the car, the auto dealer retains ownership of it. This is what our most learned VP is telling us and wants us to believe.

And this brings me to the purpose of this letter. Editor, as we know, the assets which we have fully paid for continue to be utilised by Exxon in its operations. But unlike assets belonging to others, for example, SBM Offshore Inc, which provides the storage facilities for the oil, and is paid a fee or rental by Exxon, for the use of those facilities, we on the other hand, receive nothing for the utilisation of our assets – no fee, no rental, zilch. Consequently, I think that its incumbent on our government to do everything in its power to right this egregious wrong, for the people of Guyana. Exxon and its partners should be made to pay a negotiated fee or rental for the continued use of the assets that we have fully paid for.

Yours truly,

Dougla

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