Exxon still fighting Guyana for US$214M flagged by auditors

Jun 10, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – ExxonMobil is still fighting Guyana for US$214M the company wrongfully spent between 1999 and 2017, according to an independent audit firm.

On Tuesday, the company’s Vice President and Business Services Manager, John Colling hinted that the dispute may land before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

He was addressing members of the media at Exxon’s Headquarters, Ogle, East Coast Demerara when it was explained that the two sides are yet to reach an agreement regarding the appointment of a sole expert to settle the audit dispute.

“So we’re in discussion currently with the government of Guyana regarding the selection of the sole expert. We have not yet landed on a sole expert but have discussed a process to ultimately arrive at one,” Colling said.

As such, he noted, “If we’re unable to arrive at a mutual selection, that can be referred to the ICC to make the selection, which very well may be the next step in the process.”

The discussions to appoint a sole expert have been ongoing between the two sides for over a year now. Since September 2024 Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo during a press conference disclosed that the time for discussions over the US$214M disputed expenses of Exxon has expired, triggering the next step stipulated under the PSA.

“We now have to trigger the provisions under the PSA. Which means some form of a mediated settlement or arbitration. So, we have gone past the issue of clarifying between the two parties’ costs. We have a dispute over $214M that should not be part of the cost bank,” the Chief Policymaker for the sector said.

Be that as it may, Exxon said the two parties have been working diligently to find a sole expert acceptable to both sides.

When asked to say whether Exxon and government agreed to a timeline to identify the sole expert before proceeding to ICC, Colling said, “We are willing to work with the government as long as it takes to bring this matter to resolution. I think ultimately all parties would like to move forward.”

He maintained, “As sole experts are considered they must meet a number of qualifications that are acceptable to both parties and certainly objectivity is one of them so that is one of the criteria that we are discussing with the government as well as relevant experience which is another key factor.”

When asked if its nominee has raised concerns over conflict of interest, Colling told reporters, “Both parties have comments on each other’s’ proposals but I really don’t want to get ahead of the outcome of that process while we are engaged in those discussions with the government.”

The US$214M in question was flagged by the British Consultant, IHS-Markit, in an audit conducted of Exxon’s expenses incurred between 1999 and 2017. Exxon submitted a bill of US$1.6B to Guyana for the period.

The audit report was completed and handed over to the GoG since March 2021. The consultant advised that “GoG has reasonable grounds to dispute $214.4M plus overhead adjustments of the costs currently included by EEPGL (now EMGL) in the Cost Bank. This amount represents 12.8% of the cumulative cost recovery balance as of Q4 2017 Statement.”

Sole expert and the PSA

Article 26 of the Petroleum Agreement states that if the parties fail to agree on a sole expert within 30 days such expert shall be appointed by the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) in accordance with its rules for the appointment of experts and neutrals.

That timeline has long expired with some stakeholders accusing government of dragging its feet on the matter.

The oil contract states at Article 26.10 “…the parties shall cooperate fully in the expeditious conduct of such expert determination and provide the expert with access to all facilities, books, records, documents, information and personnel necessary to make a fully informed decision in an expeditious manner. The sole expert shall act as an expert and not as an arbitrator or mediator, and shall endeavour to provide an opinion on the dispute within thirty (30) days of his appointment, but no later than sixty (60) days after his appointment…”

While the first audit drags on, two other audits of the company still remain to be concluded as well. The second audit, for the period 2018 to 2020 was conducted by VHE consulting. The local audit team found that another US$65 million of the US$7.2 billion in expenses was incorrectly charged to Guyana.

Questions still remain on whether the full report was published by the GoG for the US$7.2B audit. Meanwhile Exxon’s third and largest audit, on record to date, amounts to a whopping US$19.6B. It was conducted by the same local group, VHE. Although Government received that report since May 2025, it has refused to make the document public. The administration is also not inclined to highlight the disputed costs flagged by the auditors.

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• auditors, ExxonMobil Guyana, oil spending

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