‘222 days of silence’ – Govt. withholds Exxon audit as calls grow for mandatory disclosure law

Dec 23, 2025 News

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(Kaieteur News) – More than seven months after receiving the third cost recovery audit report on ExxonMobil, the Government of Guyana (GoG) has yet to make the document public, fueling mounting suspicion, public frustration, and renewed calls for legislation to enforce strict timelines for the release of critical oil sector information.

The audit, conducted by local consortium VHE Consulting, covers the period 2021 to 2023 and examines ExxonMobil’s recovery of a staggering US$19.6 billion in expenses charged against Guyana’s oil under the Stabroek Block operations. It is the largest cost recovery audit undertaken since Guyana began oil production in 2019. Previous audits exposed serious irregularities, including the use of Guyana’s oil to pay for expenses unrelated to the Stabroek Block and costs expressly disallowed under the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).

While there was some reluctance on the part of the (GoG) in the past to release the two previous audit reports which were first leaked to the media through unofficial channels, the third audit report remains tightly concealed by the (GoG), with transparency activists now beginning to question the administration’s motive.  An executive member of Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI), Frederick Collins told Kaieteur News that legislative changes may be required to force government’s hand to release these documents.

In an exclusive interview, the past President of the watchdog body pointed out that members of civil society were left with no option but to protest the office of the Commissioner of Information, Charles Ramson (senior) over the blackout of information in the public domain, especially in the oil and gas sector.

Collins laid the blame squarely at the feet of government for failing to ensure information on the sector is readily available to not only members of the press but civil society as well. In fact, he argued, “Clearly, they are allowed by the people of Guyana to do exactly what they are doing because we demonstrated, including the press about how many times, over a year or two and the government did absolutely nothing, did not budge an inch to make confession. They simply stonewalled and sat there and this was in terms of access to all information, general access to information to get the information czar to do what he is being paid to do and the population watched us bleed in the sun and the government do nothing.”

Meanwhile, he speculated that government may be withholding the report as it may contain certain information that they wish for the public not to see.

Turning his attention to the questionable timeline since the report was handed over to government, the former (TIGI) President explained that it is normal for private companies to be audited at the end of each financial year as part of its responsibility to shareholders.

In Guyana’s case, Collins pointed out that the (GoG) was elected on behalf of the citizens to manage the sector and holds equal responsibility to ensure its shareholders- Guyanese- are informed on the affairs.

The transparency activist argued, “In the oil business, the owners of this whole show are the people of Guyana, not the government. The government is just the caretakers of the people of this country and the people are the shareholders who expect and should demand the accounts. People should be fired if you can’t produce the accounts so I’m saying to you that the caretakers are keeping the business of the people away from the people.”

Collins reminded that the 2016 (PSA) stipulates that the (GoG) is required to audit the company at the end of every calendar year, as he noted that at least one other audit may be pending while the third report remains hidden.

“In any reasonable situation, the time which the audit report is released should give the owners of the company, in this case, the people of Guyana, enough time to be able to read and digest and the people who are intelligent enough to comment on the finances in the newspapers for us to see what is going on…if the report should be done every two years then you can very well have the next audit report out or due when this thing is released which is a little awkward so we should have,” he reasoned.

To this end, he suggested that a legal timeline be established for audit reports to be published.

“In Guyana we are talking about an international cooperation like Exxon, an audit has been done and the government is sitting on it, so people must wonder what is going on…if they prolong it, they are creating suspicion that there is something or more things than one in the report that they don’t want the public to know.”

As such, Collins said there is a definite need for legislation to specific a time for audit reports to be published. “The responsibility that the government has is even greater than the responsibility of a private set of directors and therefore we should demand that there is a period of time beyond which they ought not to be able to hold on to the audit reports without sharing,” he said.

Background on third audit

On May 15, 2025 the minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat revealed that the audit was completed and the report handed over to government for review. Five months later, in October, Bharrat informed this newspaper that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) was still conducting a technical review of the report and would make the document public after the process was completed. Recently, Bharrat was asked again about the report and directed all questions to the tax agency.

Notably, the (GRA) has not responded to any queries from this newspaper relating to the audit.

Previously, minister Bharrat said he was hesitant to disclose the initial sum that was flagged by the auditors. He explained, “The auditors would flag a figure and then it goes back to the company and the company might be able to produce evidence or receipts for everything so it keeps adjusting all the time so it’s no use I give you a figure and then it might raise questions all around.”

The minister at the time urged that the (GRA) be granted a few more days to complete the process with the oil company. “Remember they would give the company time to provide evidence of spending and so,” he said while assuring that the third audit report will be made public on the website upon completion of the ongoing exchanges between Exxon and the (GRA).

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• Audit, hidden, Law, Report, TIGI, timeline

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