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Exxon’s US$100M for STEM a distraction from the billions being taken from Guyana – Dr. Adams
…challenges company to pay at least half of taxes, ring-fence projects and renegotiate immoral deal to prove care for youths
(Kaieteur News) – The US$100 million gift by ExxonMobil to bolster Guyana’s Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) programme is a distraction from the billions in revenue Guyana is losing to the company, a sordid reality that could be easily addressed if the energy giant truly cared for the youths of the country.
This is according to the former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams. In a letter to this newspaper, the Petroleum Engineer noted that he deeply values and welcome STEM initiatives as the building block of any country, especially Guyana as a developing nation.
Former Executive Director of the EPA, Dr. Vincent Adams
In fact, Dr. Adams previously sponsored, established and managed a STEM program for 10 Universities in the United States and served as the University of Guyana’s Distinguished Engineer in Residence to help restructure the Engineering & Technology Faculty.
To this end Dr. Adams pointed out that Guyanese see through the “razzle-dazzle” of the tactic which hands youths a tiny fraction of their own money with grandiosity.
He reminded that the government of Guyana pays all of Exxon’s taxes, which amounts to billions of US-dollars and issues the company a tax receipt to certify the payment which is used by Exxon to claim tax credits.
“For example, Exxon was issued a receipt for the 2024 Govt. paid US$1.24 B taxes which will escalate by several US $ Billions over the years as oil production increases to more than double within the next 3 years,” he explained.
Dr. Adams therefore reiterated that the US$100M initiative by Exxon which will be paid out over the next 10 years amount to less than 1% of the company’s 2024 taxes.
Additionally, he argued, “Even with the expedient lowballed 11.6 billion barrels in recoverable oil reserves, and the very conservative assumption that Exxon’s profit share will remain constant at 12.5%, Exxon stands to gain a total profit share of US $110B.”
As such, he reasoned that even if Guyanese buy the “façade” that the STEM gift comes out of Exxon’s pockets, that money will only account for far less than 1% of its profits.
He cautioned the company that Guyanese are not so naive to fall for the trick devised by the masterminds of Exxon, parading to care for the youths of the country. The former EPA head described the act as a distraction from the multitude of atrocities committed against the Guyanese people.
Dr. Adams suggested that if Exxon truly cared for Guyana or its youths, the company would have gifted the country at least half of the taxes it should pay and rather than rabidly snubbing calls for renegotiation of the 2016 oil deal, it would agree to come back to the table to correct the “never-before-seen immoral lopsided oil Contract, to attain a fair, just, and equitable Contract that would negate the need for a token STEM handout.”
Dr. Adams made about a dozen suggestions for Exxon to demonstrate true care for Guyanese, including by agreeing to ring-fence the Stabroek Block projects which is not restricted by the contract and under reporting the country’s oil reserves.
Furthermore, he noted if Exxon cared, inaccurate billboards misleading the public on the country’s share of profits would not have been erected and the appeal of the unlimited parent company guarantee would not have been filed.
Moreover, the former EPA Director stressed, “They would not have allowed Guyanese workers on operating ships to be paid slave wages, eating leftover food after others, most high-skilled jobs going to expatriates, and local firms struggling to meet qualification standards while foreign companies receive waivers.”
He was keen to note too that better environmental practices would have been evident as the company would not flare and dump countless tons of produced gas with over 200 toxic contaminants; and oil laced, hot, toxic, radioactive water, instead of reinjecting into the oil reservoirs as mandated by international standards. Dr. Adams pointed to the devastation of the fishing industry as a result of these activities by Exxon which continues to squeeze billions of dollars in decommissioning funds to plug wells before they even start producing oil.
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Dr. Adams thank you for the wonderful article. I am a srilankan who spent a short tenure as a senior faculty at the UG campus. Your article is a straight shooter of how the west has colonized the developing countries. As a srilankan born under the domination by Britain, I must the British did two things excellently – they gave us free education and good health care. In fact, when I went to my DPhil at the University of Liverpool in UK my professor late Harry David Jennings apologized to me for the ills committed by the British and I told him that we as humans learn from mistakes. I still have many good friends in Guyana – in fact my son-in-law is a Guyanese. I ask the Guyanese to be not hood winked by Exon or USA. Sincerely