Windfall taxes, like hell

Mar 25, 2026 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

(Kaieteur News) – Want a short, stiff answer on the possibility of windfall taxes paid by Exxon to Guyana? Get ready. Get out of here. “NO! we’ve been very clear on that.” Mr. Alistair Routledge couldn’t be clearer. What’s very clear also is how the PPP Govt. of Drs. Ali and Jagdeo falls in line with that, offers no pushback. Guyana’s leaders are humiliated in their own home, and they kneel before an arrogant exploiter, practically invite more of the same, without any shame.

Exxon’s man in Guyana operates like one of those old British viceroys in India. Recall powerful maharajahs who were good at taking advantage of their own people, beating them, but ready to take a knee before their British masters. New country, new century, new treasure, new masters. Same old story: voracious outsiders-they brand themselves investors-and leaders so frivolous, as to be unworthy of mention.

Mr. Routledge emphasised “stability” and its significance for Exxon. I hold him to that (stability). From Guyana’s cheap-to-produce, sweet to refineries and consumers, oil, Exxon was already profiting handsomely. Guyana’s contract, the company’s matchless windfall, ensures a series of such profit killings. But, said Mr. Routledge, “It’s extremely important that there’s a stable investment climate. These spikes in oil price happen from time to time, but they’re not predictable, and when they do happen, they are what enable us, then, to carry through the periods when oil price drops again.”

Spikes and drops in oil prices. Stability helps to smooth the peaks and troughs. Beautifully articulated, sir. But even when oil prices drop, Exxon still does mighty fine, because of the low breakeven price that the company enjoys for each barrel produced, from the contract that it foisted on Guyana. It’s what strips Guyana of money, dignity, and the kind of prosperity due to it from its treasure. Put differently, oil prices have to fall very steeply and stay there for a prolonged period before Exxon even experiences what approaches some level of instability. Maybe not quite as large the swollen profits of years before, but nothing skimpy, either.

Further still, oil prices have almost doubled versus that US$60 a barrel to which it had declined. But the wily Mr. Routledge isn’t saying a word about windfall profits. Nor is he doing any sparring with windfall taxes.

Some mention 25% in windfall taxes. I can only count up to 10, and on extraordinary days creep near to 15. How about huddling with Darren Woods and the Texas oil posse, for some clearance for 10% 0r 15%? How does 10% of that extra US$40 a barrel push Exxon into unstable territory? Four dollars more from each barrel for Guyana wouldn’t piledrive Exxon to soup kitchen line, or breadline. I am surprised at Mr. Routledge, who comes up with these farces, of which stability is one. How he reduces himself to the laughable. I’d bet precious money, my last dollar, that Alistair Routledge is a sharper, wiser, man than he makes himself out to be. Disappointment for this old Exxon hand washes over me.

Exxon is not making the same dime that Guyana makes from its oil. The world knows that when Guyana gets a penny, Exxon draws a pound. Before I forget, that pound for Exxon is only from official figures; while Guyana’s penny remains just that: a solitary, rusty penny. Mr. Routledge insists that when oil prices have fallen in the past, governments haven’t offered relief to his company. Again, he should know better.

Oil prices fall a long way down and land hard, and Guyana doesn’t have anything to get. So, what does it have to give, sir? It couldn’t even offer the Guyanese people a living standard commensurate with their honour of being the richest in the world, and that was when oil was around US$80 a basket. So, what the hell (pardon me) it could offer Exxon as a rebate, if oil falls to US$50 a barrel? Exxon’s still profiting from Guyana’s oil, but Guyana crumpling from oil prices collapsing on its head. Not at US$20 a barrel, God forbid, but at US$50 per 42 gallons. I apologise again. Oil and god don’t mix. For Guyana to collect windfall taxes, manna must fall from the sky first. Thanks for nothing, Mr. Routledge.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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Alistair Routledge, Exxon, GHK Lall, windfall taxes

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