Exxon and taxes

Mar 12, 2026 Editorial, News

---

(Kaieteur News) – ExxonMobil’s latest disclosure that it paid US$1.1 billion in taxes to Guyana in 2025 may sound like a triumph for the country’s oil economy. On paper, it appears that the American oil giant is contributing handsomely to the nation’s treasury. But when one examines the fine print of Guyana’s 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), that claim quickly collapses into something far less impressive—something closer to accounting theatre than genuine national revenue.

The truth is that ExxonMobil does not pay taxes to Guyana in the conventional sense. Under the terms of the controversial 2016 PSA signed with the Government of Guyana, ExxonMobil and its partners are exempt from most local taxes on income derived from petroleum operations. Article 15.1 of the agreement states clearly that the contractor and its affiliates “shall not be subjected to tax, value-added tax, excise tax, duty, fee, charge, or impost” in relation to their petroleum operations, except as specifically provided for in the agreement.

Instead, the contract outlines an unusual and controversial arrangement: the Government of Guyana pays the taxes on behalf of the oil companies. Article 15.4 stipulates that the Minister responsible for Petroleum will pay a sum equivalent to the taxes owed by ExxonMobil to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). This payment is made using Guyana’s share of oil revenues. Afterward, the GRA issues a receipt to ExxonMobil indicating that the company has met its tax obligations, thereby allowing it to avoid the burden of double taxation in other jurisdictions.

In simple terms, Guyana is paying ExxonMobil’s taxes for it and then handing the company a certificate to say that it has paid them. It is therefore deeply misleading for ExxonMobil to boast in its 2025 Annual Report to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that it paid US$1.1 billion in taxes to Guyana. While the figure may be technically defensible within the structure of the PSA, it gives the clear impression that ExxonMobil is transferring billions of dollars directly into Guyana’s treasury. That is not the case.

This questionable arrangement has not gone unnoticed internationally. Reports indicate that three United States senators recently wrote to ExxonMobil’s Chief Executive Officer, Darren Woods, seeking clarification about the company’s tax practices in Guyana. Their concerns reflect a growing recognition that the structure of the Guyana contract raises serious questions about transparency and fairness.

Locally, the issue has also attracted scrutiny from financial experts. Chartered accountant and attorney Christopher Ram has sharply criticised what he describes as misleading statements surrounding the company’s tax disclosures. He has argued that the situation could represent one of the most troubling financial distortions in the country’s modern history.

Ram has raised a fundamental question that remains unanswered: if these taxes are supposedly being paid from Guyana’s share of oil revenues, where is the evidence? The Natural Resource Fund—the sovereign wealth fund that receives the country’s oil earnings shows no clear deduction reflecting such payments. There is no visible debit, no documented outflow that corresponds with the billions reportedly paid in taxes.

If the taxes are being paid, Guyanese deserve to see the accounting.

Transparency is especially critical because the stakes are enormous. The oil sector has transformed Guyana into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Billions of US dollars are now flowing from offshore production in the Stabroek Block. Yet many citizens still struggle with underfunded hospitals, inadequate infrastructure, and public services that remain stretched.

That is why the US$1.1 billion figure resonates so strongly. For a developing country like Guyana, such a sum could finance major national projects: modern hospitals, improved highways, upgraded schools, and stronger public institutions. It is precisely the kind of revenue that could accelerate the country’s development and improve the lives of ordinary citizens.

Instead, Guyana continues to borrow billions of dollars to fund essential infrastructure and development programmes. Loans are being taken from international financial institutions while the country’s oil wealth grows offshore. The contradiction is striking.

ExxonMobil can proudly highlight a US$1.1 billion tax payment in its global filings, but Guyanese citizens see none of that money arriving in the national coffers in any direct or transparent way. The optics may serve the company’s international narrative, but they do little to address the concerns of the people whose natural resources are generating those profits.

At its core, this issue underscores the deeper controversy surrounding the 2016 oil contract itself  a deal that has long been criticised as excessively generous to the oil companies and insufficiently protective of Guyana’s national interests. ExxonMobil may be able to boast about billions in taxes paid to Guyana. But for many Guyanese, the reality is painfully different. This is money the country desperately needs. If Guyana were truly receiving such revenues directly, the government would not have to keep borrowing to build roads, hospitals, and schools.

That is the bitter truth behind the billion-dollar tax claim: while ExxonMobil reports the numbers, the nation that owns the oil is still scrambling for the cash.

---

• Exxon, Guyana Oil, PSA, taxes

---