‘GOVT. EXPOSED’ – Govt. ordered to pay Wales gas project contractor US$102M as settlement

Apr 15, 2026 News, Oil & Gas

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…already paid US$34M – company’s financials reveal

(Kaieteur News) – Despite firm denials from the Government of Guyana (GoG) that no “secret payments” were made to the Wales Gas-to-Energy (GtE) contractor, newly surfaced financial records from Lindsayca/CH4 have revealed a far larger settlement, raising fresh concerns about transparency in the country’s most expensive project.

While the payment was never reported or admitted to by government, which claimed strict adherence to “confidentiality” terms, the contractor’s financials show that the Dispute Adjudication/Avoidance Board (DAAB) ordered the government to pay US$102.7 million, significantly higher than the previously reported US$80 million. More strikingly, the documents confirm that US$34.2 million has already been paid in 2025, with additional installments expected in 2026.

According to the financials seen by this newspaper, “On 31 January 2025, the DAAB issued two awards ordering the Government of Guyana to pay a total amount of US$102,679,839 to Lindsayca CH4 Guyana Inc.”

Lindsayca explained that in accordance with the contract it signed with government, access to the project site for the construction of the power plant was agreed as June 1, 2023. However, access was granted several months later due to delays in completion of site preparation activities.

Additionally, the company noted that there were defects to the quality of the site which required Lindsayca/CH4 to incur costs to remedy the situation. The parties therefore took their case to the DAAB “following a disagreement over the extension of the final delivery date of the project. The dispute arose due to delays in accessing the site for land preparation and the costs associated with remediating defects related to the site preparation.”

Although the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement last week informed that both parties were dissatisfied with the outcome of the DAAB, Lindsayca clearly stated, “To date, the outcome of the mediation process has been satisfactory for the Group.”

Following the ruling by the DAAB, the company highlighted a lack of compliance by the GoG, which led to a mediation agreement two months later. According to Lindsayca, “Following this and a lack of compliance from the Government of Guyana, the parties executed a Mediation Agreement on March 25, 2025, to discuss and resolve the payment of the DAAB awards. During the mediation process on April 1, 2025, an agreement for payment in installments was reached with the Government of Guyana’s representatives.”

To this end, Lindsayca reported that it has successfully obtained the first installment which was paid in 2025. The company anticipates the remaining installments to be made in 2026. “The Group obtained favourable awards from the Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Board (DAAB) regarding specific claims and has already collected the first installment of US$34.2 million in 2025,” the company’s financials state.

Sources close to the process informed Kaieteur News that a US$34M payment was made to the contractor about four weeks ago.  Moreover, this publication was told that the local law firm, London House Chambers was involved in advising Lindsayca/CH4 during the dispute with government. It is unclear whether the legal team for the contractor will be paid from the US$102M awarded to the company or whether this is yet another cost added to Guyana’s bill for the GTE project.

In addition to hiding the payout made to the GTE contractor, government has not said exactly how much it paid in legal fees – both foreign and local. With the project cost increasing by millions of USD, the head of the GTE Taskforce, Winston Brassington continues to hold his tongue as the Prime Minister, Mark Phillips faces the heat for the project. Further, President Irfaan Ali who promised to deliver the project since 2024 has not issued a statement on this matter since a series of disclosures were made by this newspaper, raising deeper concerns of accountability, one observer said.

One week ago, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement in response to an article published by Kaieteur News indicating that a US$80M payment was secretly paid to the Wales GTE contractor to settle the dispute.  The PM however indicated, “There are no secret payments made to the Contractor. All payments are made via the Consolidated Fund and reported to Parliament. For the record, the Parties have not advanced the arbitration process and as such there is no arbitration ruling. Arbitration continues to be an option available to the Parties.  It is therefore incorrect to suggest that the GoG has lost the arbitration.”

Further, the statement noted, “It may be recalled that in January 2025, the Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Board (DAAB) made decisions which both parties were dissatisfied with. In March 2025, both Parties signaled their intent to go to arbitration and notified the members of the DAAB.  It has been publicly stated that DAAB decisions are confidential. As such, neither party can speak to its contents.”

Notably, questions sent by Kaieteur News to the PM since April 9, seeking clarity on the payments made to the contractor were ignored. Subsequent queries specifically relating to Guyana’s agreement to purchase gas has also been met with silence.

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• contractor, Lindsayca-CH4, Mark Phillips, settlement, Wales Gas-to-Energy, Winston Brassington

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