Guyanese must see ExxonMobil disputed audit cost

Aug 29, 2026 News

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…as secrecy undermines accountability – MP Solomon

(Kaieteur News) – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP) Sharma Solomon has ripped into the argument by the Government of Guyana (GoG) that secrecy on the audits of ExxonMobil protects the interest of citizens.

In a response to a letter to the editor, by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), the MP argued that “silence is not protection. It is a failure of accountability by this government!”

He said that government “wants Guyanese to believe that its silence on the US$19.6 billion ExxonMobil audit is somehow protecting the national interest. That argument does not stand up to scrutiny. Silence is not transparency, and keeping Guyanese who are owners of the nation’s oil in the dark is not a strategy for protecting their interests.”

Solomon reminded that the third and largest audit of ExxonMobil was completed over a year ago; yet, Guyanese still do not have an understanding of what the team discovered, what costs have been challenged and accepted, the amount rejected and what is currently in dispute.

On the other hand, he argued that the oil giant continues to release key information to its shareholders while Guyanese are last to learn of these developments involving their resources from an overseas company.

The MP pointed out that previous audits of the company have already demonstrated why government scrutiny matters.

He said, “The first audit examined approximately US$1.7 billion and identified about US$214.4 million in disputed expenses. The second examined approximately US$7.2 billion and identified another US$65.1 million that government did not accept. Now we have an audit covering approximately US$19.6 billion, and Guyanese are being told to wait while government negotiates behind closed doors.”

Solomon argued that government must say what exactly Guyanese must wait for and how much longer. Furthermore, he suggested that if the administration is faced with a difficulty in resolving the audit, then it must have the courage to say exactly what the difficulty is.

“If it lacks the technical capacity, expertise or mechanisms required, then seek the assistance necessary to resolve it. If additional oversight is required, bring the matter before the National Assembly. That is what Parliament is there for,” the MP said.

Furthermore, he reminded that the government does not own the oil discovered offshore but is merely the custodian of the natural resources. He noted that government should not view the opposition as an enemy of that process while parliament too should not be sidelined and used only to its convenience for matters such as supplementary budgets.

Solomon insisted, “The government cannot simultaneously tell the country that everything is under control while refusing to explain why a US$19.6 billion audit remains unresolved after more than a year. Guyanese cannot have a situation where ExxonMobil speaks and the government follows. When Exxon announces major developments concerning Guyana’s petroleum sector, the government should already be in a position to provide the country with verified information, not wait until public pressure forces a response.”

He reminded that while Exxon has a commercial interest in what it declares as expenditure and cost recovery, the government has a constitutional and national responsibility to verify those declarations and protect the country’s share.

The MP said Guyanese deserve answers as the owners of the resources and if government cannot provide them then “it must stop pretending that silence is strength.” He suggested instead, “It must ask for help, bring Parliament into the process and put the national interest above political control of information. Guyana cannot afford a government that believes accountability weakens its hand. Accountability strengthens Guyana’s hand.”

Furthermore, the opposition parliamentarian pointed out that Guyanese must not be kept permanently in the dark while their national wealth is being produced, spent and recovered.

On Friday, Kaieteur News reported that the MNR defended its silence on the outcome of a US$19.6B audit of ExxonMobil for over a year since it received the report by the local consortium tasked with completing the review, VHE Consulting.

The ministry made it clear that it would not announce its position while a “dispute is still open” as this would “only weaken our own hand and could cost the country money.”

According to the MNR, “Outcomes will be reported once they are final; that silence protects your interests, it does not hide anything from you.”

To this end, government asserted that it would not negotiate the ongoing audits in the public domain.

The letter by the ministry came on the heels of an earlier statement by MP Solomon who delved into the remarks by President Irfaan Ali on the US$55B recovered by Exxon and the 39.8% profit share Guyana now receives as a result.

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• accountability, audit cost, ExxonMobil, MP Solomon, secrecy

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