Exxon expands as oil oversight crumbles

Nov 27, 2025 Editorial, News

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(Kaieteur News) – Guyana’s leaders never tire of boasting about “first oil,” massive production increases and the supposed transformative promise of petroleum wealth. Every new Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel is treated like a national trophy.

Every new ExxonMobil project is waved through with efficiency our public institutions rarely enjoy. Yet behind this gleaming façade lies a fundamental and long-standing failure, the State’s inability to staff, equip, and strengthen the very institutions needed to ensure that Guyana’s oil wealth is fairly, transparently, and accurately accounted for.

The latest revelation from the Auditor General’s 2024 Report and highlighted by this newspaper makes it clear that Guyana’s premier tax authority, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), is still dangerously understaffed in the most critical departments responsible for policing the oil and gas sector. This is not a short-term hiccup. This crisis was first flagged in 2023, reappeared in 2024, and as of September 2025 has only worsened. All the while government continues to roll out the red carpet for ExxonMobil’s unrelenting expansion.

The Petroleum Revenue Department (PRD), the frontline unit charged with petroleum tax audits, cost-recovery assessments, VAT verifications, debt management, and risk analysis, should be a fortified institution with the nation’s most skilled professionals. Instead, nearly half of its approved positions remain empty. Of 67 sanctioned posts, only 39 are filled. This means that at a time when billions of U.S. dollars are flowing through the sector, Guyana has barely enough officers to perform even the minimum oversight required.

The story is even more troubling when one examines the core functions themselves. Twenty-five tax audit officers are required, but only 10 are on staff. Guyana needs nineteen cost-recovery auditors — yet only 10 are available. These are not cosmetic shortages. They translate directly into a weakened ability to verify the massive cost-recovery claims Exxon and its partners submit annually, claims that determine how much revenue Guyana ultimately receives. Every gap in staffing is a gap in protection, a gap in vigilance, a gap that could cost the country hundreds of millions.

The Customs Petroleum Unit (CPU), tasked with monitoring imports, exports, tariff classification, valuation and exemptions all essential functions in the oil sector faces a similar crisis. With an approved complement of 33, only 23 posts are filled. And yet a fourth FPSO has arrived, exponentially increasing the workload. Exxon’s operations continue to expand aggressively, but the State’s capacity to monitor them falls further behind.

This imbalance did not occur by accident. It is the predictable result of a government far more interested in facilitating oil production than in regulating it. The administration bends over backwards to approve projects, issue permits, and defend Exxon’s contractual privileges. But when it comes to building strong regulatory institutions, the backbone of any oil-producing country, the urgency evaporates.

The GRA is not blind to the problem. Commissioner General Godfrey Statia has pursued extensive training partnerships, engaged the University of Guyana to create petroleum accounting degrees, and attempted both internal and external recruitment. But the pipeline of qualified applicants remains thin, and too many candidates fail even open-book examinations. Meanwhile, the oil sector itself lures away potential talent with salaries the public service cannot match.

However, this is precisely why government intervention is needed. A country sitting atop the world’s fastest-growing offshore oil reserves must treat petroleum oversight as a national priority, not a side project left to one understaffed agency. We have seen government fast-track everything from environmental permits to project approvals when it benefits Exxon. Why can’t the same urgency be applied to staffing the institutions that protect the national purse? Why aren’t budget allocations, incentives, scholarship programmes, and long-term recruitment strategies being pursued with equal vigour?

The most alarming aspect of this crisis is how long it has persisted. The Auditor General has been ringing the alarm bell for years. Yet instead of decisive action, Guyanese get the same explanation annually: recruitment is hard, the jobs are technical, and applicants fall short. These may be challenges — but they are not excuses. They are warnings. If Guyana cannot staff the units that monitor costs, taxes, exports, and customs procedures, then Guyana cannot safeguard its flagship industry. It is as simple as that. And while Exxon continues to enjoy seamless expansion, the State agencies responsible for ensuring Guyana gets its fair share are left limping behind.  A government that claims to act in the best interest of its people cannot allow this imbalance to continue. For all the talk about oil prosperity, the truth remains stark: without strong oversight, Guyana risks becoming rich on paper while losing real wealth through unchecked corporate advantage. The crisis is not new, but Guyana is running out of time to fix it.

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• Editorial, Exxon, FPSO, oil oversight, petroleum wealth

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