‘Govt. not budging on changes to Exxon’s contract’ …Pres. Ali tells Int’l institute 

May 07, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – President Irfaan Ali has once again made it clear that his administration will stick to the terms of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between Guyana and ExxonMobil along with its partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC for the lucrative Stabroek Block.

The 2016 deal has long faced criticisms due to its lopsided nature-benefitting the oil companies more than Guyana.

Despite calls for the deal to be changed, the Irfaan Ali led administration has repeatedly cited ‘sanctity of contract’ as its reason to not push for any changes to the deal.

Addressing the audience at Rice University’s Baker Institute in Houston, Texas, the Guyanese head-of-state shared that many people have asked about the Exxon oil deal. “We have made [it] very clear that the sanctity of contract is important for us,” Ali said.

Ali pivoted to note that instead of making changes to the Exxon PSA, his administration has created a new PSA which governs future oil agreements with the state for offshore oil blocks.

He stated, “So there’s no second guessing what we are doing. We are ready to make the hard decisions, we make those decisions, we make them public. We stand by the decisions we make. So, there’s predictability.” Ali stressed that one of the most important things in this sector is predictability, as a key component for investors, wanting to see predictability in State’s policy and decision making.

Governing the Stabroek Block is a deal that waives all taxes from the oil companies, stipulating that Guyana must cover these costs. It allows the companies to recover up to 75% of their investments before the remaining 25% is split. Of this, Guyana receives 12.5%, in addition to a 2% royalty paid by the oil companies.

The oil deal was signed by former Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, who served under the APNU + AFC Coalition government between 2015 and 2020. A few years ago, Trotman in his book titled, ‘From Destiny to Prosperity’ offered support to the government to renegotiate the lopsided Stabroek Block deal. However, Trotman’s offer was refused by Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo.

During an interview while running for president back in March 2020, Ali had strongly criticised the Exxon PSA signed by the Coalition Government with ExxonMobil. He stated at the time, “We have made it very clear, and we can never agree, how could, how could, I don’t think any Guyanese agree with this, no Guyanese except the government that is defending it. We have made it very clear that we have to go towards, we’re looking at these contracts, renegotiating these contracts, looking at contract management and all of these things. Everything we have to relook at because we have to ensure that our country does not get the wrong end of the stick.”

Ali’s remarks back then indicated a willingness to “review and renegotiate” the contract to secure better terms for Guyana.  However, since assuming office in August 2020, his administration has shifted to sanctity of contract.

Speaking with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Senior Journalist Gideon Long in a 2023 interview, President Ali when pressed about the possibility of renegotiation and the Exxon deal noted, “Well, I would say definitely, we did not have the best of deals, Exxon have a good deal signed by the last government.”  President Ali had outlined that sanctity of contract is very important to his government, adding, “We can’t go back on that.”

While the PPP administration has made it clear it will not seek to make changes to the Exxon deal, it should be noted that the former APNU+AFC government had renegotiated and signed the Stabroek Block PSA with ExxonMobil’s affiliate.

A few years after the agreement was signed, the David Granger administration approached the Exxon consortium, and successfully renegotiated a critical fiscal element of the deal. According to Addendum No. 1 to the Petroleum Agreement dated April 26, 2019, it was evident that the named parties were in agreement that the contract allowed for the 2% royalty to be recovered. To plug this loophole, the Addendum that was subsequently filed with the deeds registry categorically stated that it shall not be recovered in any way. Sealing the new arrangement were former President, David Granger and President of Exxon Guyana affiliate, Rodney D. Henson.

The PPP’s administration’s commitment to honour the deal as is, and not make changes has been publicly praised by one of the Stabroek Block partners – Hess.  Ahead of the 2025 General and Regional Elections where Irfaan Ali and the PPP secured victory and returned for a second term, Hess Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), John Hess, a company that holds 30% interest in the Stabroek Block, assured stakeholders of political and fiscal stability in Guyana. Citing comments made by President Ali, Hess noted that he was categorically clear about no changes will be made to the Stabroek Block PSA.

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• ExxonMobil, Guyana Oil, oil, Oil robbery, Stabroek Block

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