APNU/AFC Administration had no confidence in our local audit agencies

Dear Editor,
The upfront costs to be audited for the company amount to some US$460 million. ExxonMobil has said that this sum was spent on a range of activities and interventions, which led to the world-class Liza discovery.
This has been an issue of heated discussion among various stakeholders in Guyana, some of whom, in the previous APNU/AFC Administration, have expressed concern that the local agencies do not yet have the capacity to perform such audits.
It is distasteful to see criticisms coming from the same APNU/AFC Opposition who had no confidence in our own local agencies to get these audits done. one should see these criticisms of our Government as self-serving, given the fact that this Government has been transparent about why it has not yet contracted an auditor.
Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government would complete these audits of costs claimed by ExxonMobil for its operations, and assures that Guyana’s interests would be protected and Government would prevent ExxonMobil from recovering inflated or unreasonable costs.
One must not forget that when the PPP/C Government assumed office in 2020, it took over the shepherding of an audit of ExxonMobil’s pre-contract and other pre-2017 costs. The audit was being conducted by the UK firm IHS Markit, which was hired by the previous administration four years after oil was first discovered offshore. These cost recovery audits were left outstanding for years.
It is disappointing that the previous APNU/AFC Administration did not develop its capacity to conduct cost recovery audits, nor did it make haste to contract a firm to conduct those audits, while setting the stage for local audit firms to benefit from involvement in cost recovery audits, and build the capacity of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to conduct its own cost audits for the oil sector.
Unlike the previous APNU/ AFC Administration, our Government has made it clear that the PPP/C Government’s intention is to have local people involved in these audits.
This Government is seeking to assemble the best group of Guyanese in the sector, those who demonstrate strong auditing capabilities in these areas. We were all calling for local content, hence it is imperative and important for our local firms to participate in these audits in the public’s calls for Expressions of Interest, and collaborate with a reputable international firm for the audit of ExxonMobil’s post-2017 costs.
Our Government recognises that strong local-content achievement is important to the Guyanese people, and its efforts to gather capable local auditors would give effect to that in a practical way. It would also allow them access to considerable revenues from audit fees.
Dr. Jagdeo and the Government of Guyana intend to build the capacity of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to conduct its own cost audits for the oil sector, and to address these issues more comprehensively in the future.

Sincerely,
David Adams