US Ambassador on taxes

Oct 18, 2026 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – “It’s wonderful to hear all of these tax incentives and other support mechanisms being put in place for local businesses but the international companies are still struggling a little bit with this. Hopefully, we’ll be able to overcome these challenges together.” It is surprising that it took so long for the US Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, to speak that publicly. At the heart of her statement is that US companies expect more, the US government expects more, and that the Guyana Government should be more generous with its tax packages. We put our own points before Ambassador Theriot, hoping that she finds them worthy of consideration.

Perhaps, if US oil giant, ExxonMobil, paid a fair and reasonable share of taxes on its oil operations and income, then the Guyana Government would have the room, would have a cushion that permits some tax concessions to other US investors weighing their options about investing in Guyana. When ExxonMobil was so canny, so visionary, to insert zero taxes in its handcrafted 2016 Production Sharing Agreement with Guyana, that had two fallouts which have considerable meaning now. Zero taxes, and nowhere near to zero taxes, can no longer be the baseline, against which other potential investors measure their own tax expectations.

In fact, we would assert that ExxonMobil’s greed (zero taxes, and other contract provisions) led to US companies being looked at in a different light. If a company as rich and as experienced as ExxonMobil could inflict this huge cost on Guyana’s treasury, then what about the hungry ones longing for their own turn and bite at the Guyana apple? We reinforce that second point: because ExxonMobil grabbed so much for itself, Guyana does not have the heart, Guyana cannot afford, to be as generous, as it would like to be with other US companies. The ExxonMobil poison runs deep in Guyana.

We appreciate that Ambassador Theriot has to speak up for US companies. That is what she is here for, to give of her best in representing US interests, with commercial ones right at the top. We appreciate also, that the PPPC Government is always keen on enhancing the special bond that exists between Guyana and the US. One way that it has done is by being very receptive to US overtures, such as the acceptance of third country nationals, and the expulsion of Cuban medical personnel. If there ever was a government that has been accommodating US demands and appeals, to the point of a fault, it has been the PPPC Government. For the US ambassador now to make a case for a better tax regime for US companies is really asking too much.

By way of a quick digression, Guyana is on the lips of the world. An economy that is booming, investment opportunities like nowhere else, and a business-friendly government. Yet, there is the dark side of GDP at record levels, and Guyana’s economy bursting at the seams. Citizens and businesses wage a losing daily battle to obtain foreign exchange to transact their affairs. A country that has millions and billions written all over it, and yet obtaining the world’s currency, US dollars, is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Company profits are repatriated, and what is left is left for citizens to fight over, or pay through the nose to get a few hundred US dollars on the open market.

Foreign companies paying their share of taxes could make a difference. Indeed, ExxonMobil has a signed and sealed agreement, but it calls itself a partner. Like a marriage partnership, when one partner grabs all the riches, then that is an unhealthy, the worst of an unconstructive, relationship. We do not differ with Ambassador Theriot and her observations about logistics, scale, and skills availability. The PPPC Government may talk big, but Guyana is a small country that is overwhelmed by the magnitude of its natural resource bonanzas. Government leaders compound the problem by racing ahead with new invitations, new investors, and new projects. The people leading those want better tax considerations, so their profits increase. All the time, forex is chronically short, citizens are hungry. We urge the US ambassador to rethink her words and postures.

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Editorial, ExxonMobil, Nicole Theriot, taxes, US Ambassador

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