Former AG maintains contract should be made public

ExxonMobil contract

Former Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall is claiming that the ExxonMobil contract may be the most important agreement signed by Guyana since achieving its

independence.

He is accordingly reiterating his call for Government to release the contract for public scrutiny, which he says should be done on the basis that citizens have a right to know what’s contained in it.

Nandall posited that the ExxonMobil contract should be laid in the National Assembly, so that Members of Parliament (MPs) could debate it with the intention of ensuring that Guyana secures the best possible deal.

The former minister is also accusing Government of misusing the law to hide the contract. “That is another misuse of the law. No law will prohibit a people from being acquainted or being fed information that is in the national interest and in the public interest. There is no law that will do that,” the former Minister stated.

He maintains that the Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to information that is in the public interest.

While acknowledging that it may not be appropriate to disclose all the details of this contract, Nandlall said the Petroleum Commission Act may prohibit the sharing of certain confidential information, but it does not translate to mean hiding

the entire contract from the nation.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has also demanded full disclosure on the Exxon contract. He has called on Government to make public the contract document signed with ExxonMobil, given several public statements made by Trotman and because of the initial agreement with ExxonMobil.

Economist and political commentator Ramon Gaskin also only recently urged Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman to release the full text of the Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil, claiming that the time has come for this information to be made public.

Gaskin observed that both the current Administration and the previous People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration have consistently refused to publish this document; but stressed the importance of having it done now, especially since production of oil and gas is expected to begin by mid-2020.

These three outspoken men are not the only ones calling for a disclosure of the contract. In fact, local transparency watchdog the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) has also called on Government to make full disclosure of its contract with ExxonMobil.

TIGI said full disclosure would assure Guyanese living at home and abroad that negotiations with the oil major are in the best interest of the country, and would eliminate concerns of corruption.

TIGI also agrees with Nandall that the contract drafts and negotiations should be laid in Parliament. The body has expressed concern about the very existence of this confidentiality clause, and wants to know whether it can expect to see it removed in the revised act which is due shortly.

Furthermore, considering that contract secrecy can be injurious to countries rich with natural resources such as oil, TIGI is urging the Government to publish all contract drafts with USA oil giant ExxonMobil.

The body is also calling for Parliament to be able to shine the light of transparency on all negotiations between Guyana and the said company.

Contract on ‘lock down’

Minister Trotman recently told this publication that there have been attempts by unauthorised persons to access the documents, and this has since prompted the authorities to place the contract on ‘lock down’.

The minister said it has been observed that “unusual activities” were being made to access the petroleum contract documents which the Government of Guyana made with ExxonMobil Corporation.

This oil giant confirmed in May 2015 that a significant discovery of oil was made at its Liza 1 exploration well, where more than 295 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs were encountered.

In late June 2016, Exxon’s drilling results at Liza 2 revealed more than 58 metres of oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs in Upper Cretaceous formations. The well was drilled to 5,475 metres at 1,692 metres water depth. Drilling results confirmed recoverable resources to be between 800 million and 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Data from the Liza 2 well test is being assessed.

The company later announced that it made its third significant discovery in its drilling explorations offshore Guyana. Its partner, Hess Corporation, had noted that the Liza 3 exploratory well’s net value could be US$6.2 billion based on calculations from the Bank of Montreal (BMO) Capital Markets.

Exxon’s oil find in Guyana has attracted international attention, with a number of seminars being held over time. In addition, assistance is being provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost Guyana’s administrative capacity to handle the expected inflow of revenue.