Erroneous to suggest oil bonus money would be available for ‘legal fees’

Dear Editor,
Much has been said about the almost US$20 million signing bonus plus the 2% Royalty Fee extracted from ExxonMobil by the APNU+AFC Government of President David Granger in renegotiating a new contract for Guyana’s oil resources.
Who actually believes that ExxonMobil would forego US$20 million plus a 2% Royalty Fee as a goodwill gesture without some form of financial compensation?
With regard to the US$20 million signing bonus, there was a directive to the Bank of Guyana to invest the money in “secured interest bearing securities” (meaning US Government Bonds). When you buy bonds, you do so over a period of time. It is not a short-term investment. When you sell bonds before the maturity date, you do not tend to get back your initial investment. So to suggest that the money would be available for ‘legal fees’ is erroneous and misleading, as the money would have been invested in secured interest bearing securities.

Yours faithfully,
Sean Ori