Decisions in oil sector to benefit all Guyanese – Harmon

ExxonMobil contract

Despite claims of being shafted by US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, Government has maintained that its plans and decisions regarding the emerging sector, are to ultimately benefit all Guyanese.
Government has been receiving some criticisms over its dealings with the US oil and gas supermajor, particularly by its acceptance of a mere two per cent royalty from the sealed partnership.
However, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said Friday that every decision being made is to benefit all Guyanese.
“We will make decisions about this industry that are in our best interest. We are a sovereign nation and we will make decisions that are in the best interest of the people of Guyana,” Harmon told journalists.
According to the Minister of State, Government has gone to the extent of setting up a committee including Government advisor on oil and gas, Dr Jan Mangal along with the Ministers of Natural Resources, Finance, Public Infrastructure, Business and State. The team will report to Cabinet about all that is happening in the sector.
Harmon said too that there have been extensive consultations with several entities, including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Central Bank, Chatom House, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Commonwealth Secretariat among others.
“At this time, he said we are accepting advice and is coming up with best practice all for the interest of the people of Guyana”.
During the course of this week, President Granger also requested a visit from officials from the IDB “for us to review where we are for our preparation for the 2020 flow of oil and gas. We are doing a table top review of all the arrangements put in place as of now”.
But in order to get the best deal in the business through the on-going consultations, along with the expertise of Mangal, Government is also using leading experts in the field of law, the environment and other negotiating skills, which will be put to use for the benefit of the sector and Guyanese, Harmon said.
At a previous media briefing, Harmon had said Government remains satisfied with the two per cent royalty it negotiated with ExxonMobil.
He was adamant that whatever agreement was arrived at between Guyana and the oil and gas giant had benefited from local and international input. He said too that the agreement was in line with best practices.
The Opposition had however claimed that the two per cent royalty at US$50 per barrel of oil will see Guyana earning a meagre $8 billion per year from the oil company; returns that can in no way solve Guyana’s unemployment problems and in fact gives rise to the real possibility of Guyanese being worse off.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had therefore called out Government over its duplicitous statements and challenged the Administration to release the contract inked with the US-based oil exploration company.