Latest update September 4th, 2026 10:24 AM
AFC demands full breakdown of Stabroek Block expenses
…raises questions over 39.8% profit share announced by Pres. Ali
(Kaieteur News) – Interim leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) and former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson is calling on the Government of Guyana (GoG) to clearly state the costs that ExxonMobil is still taking the country’s oil to pay for, raising worrying questions about the country’s profit share as announced by President Irfaan Ali.
During a press conference last month, President Ali revealed that Exxon has recovered its US$55B investments made in Guyana, thereby increasing the country’s share of profits from 12.5% to 39.8%.
AFC Leader, David Patterson
The Head-of-State also explained that instead of 75% of oil being used to meet expenses for the operator, Exxon’s costs are now 20%. In response, Patterson raised a series of questions for the President, including a request for a detailed list of the current expenses for the operator.
He said, “We need a full break down of the claimed 20% costs – does this include decommissioning costs? If so, where is this fund being held? Who monitors these funds? Does Guyana have oversight on the decommissioning fund, since after all, it our money that they are saving to decommission the well at the end of its life?”
President Irfaan Ali
Decommissioning refers to the cleanup and restoration of the ocean floor after the commercial life of an oil project. It involves plugging the oil wells, disconnecting flowlines and removing associated infrastructure. The former minister pointed out that a decommissioning fund could hold billions of US-dollars- an account that would generate significant interest. As such, he suggested that Guyana should be the beneficiary of the interests since Guyana’s oil money is generating that additional revenue.
Perhaps more importantly, the party leader questioned the profit share percentage disclosed by President Ali. He reasoned, “Ali claims that cost oil is now 20%, which means that 80% should be available for profit sharing. In that case our take would be 42% (including royalty) why just 39%!”
He also said that government should state clearly whether the 39.8% includes Guyana’s 2% royalty paid by the contractor. Furthermore, he questioned the systems Guyana have in place to verify that costs are indeed 20% of production.
According to him, “Who determines that production costs are 20%? Since we have not completed a single audit in the 27 years since Exxon received their first licence – the country has no way of really knowing what their true costs are. Based on their (Exxon’s) public statement that the cost to lift a barrel of oil is around US$10, at current oil prices (US$92 per barrel), that lifting cost should be 11% – why are we paying the additional 9%…how can the country independently verify these claims?”
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