Would naysayers support holding accountable those who negotiated and signed the one-sided EXXON deal? After all, the PNC-led APNU/AFC government that negotiated the deal left this albatross for the nation to carry. The present Government — which did not sign the agreement, but is bound by it — has moved to maximize the benefits accruing to Guyana and the Guyanese people as much as possible.
Long before the Irfaan Ali-led PPP government took office in August 2020, the PNC-led APNU/AFC made EXXON’s NO-Objection for renegotiation an ironclad prerequisite. If EXXON does not agree, there is no renegotiation. This is what Article 32.1 states: “Except as may be expressly provided herein, the Government shall not amend, modify, rescind, terminate, declare invalid or unenforceable, require renegotiation of, compel replacement or substitution, or otherwise seek to avoid, alter, or limit this Agreement without the prior written consent of Contractor.” Can it be more crystal clear?
Note the latest version of EXXON’s position in regard to renegotiation in accordance with article 32.1 of the contract, as stated recently by the President of ExxonMobil Guyana: “We have no interest in invoking that Article. As I say, we’ve made US$55 billion worth of commitment to the country. To go back and to undermine the basis of that investment would seriously challenge any future investments.”
EXXON’s position has been made pellucid multiple times before, even before President Irfaan Ali was sworn in as President.
Aubrey Norton’s party, the PNC, was in Government between 2015 and 2020. The PNC-led APNU/AFC government negotiated and signed the EXXON contract in 2016, and then hid it for more than 18 months. There is one thing we all can agree on: the contract is a one-sided contract, with EXXON benefitting far more than Guyana. There is no “ands, ifs and buts” when it comes to whether or not the deal is one-sided.
This brings me to the one question that has not been asked: Should those who were responsible for negotiating and signing off on the contract be held accountable? David Granger was the President; Raphael Trotman, who was Minister of Natural Resources, was the lead on Oil; Winston Jordan was Finance Minister; the Cabinet, which presumably approved the PSA and discerned that it can be signed, included Moses Nagamootoo, Khemraj Ramjattan, David Patterson, etc. Should these and others not be held accountable? Are they guilty of malfeasance in public administration?
A small, loud band in Guyana continues to call for renegotiation. The Irfaan Ali-led PPP government, which had sensibly signed an exploratory contract with EXXON in 1999, has focused on extracting as much as it can from EXXON and its partners outside of the contract. But President Ali has made it clear, as has Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, that Guyana, having considered the renegotiation road, has decided that Government would recognize the sanctity of the contract, but would aggressively seek to expand opportunities to increase benefits accruing to Guyana within and outside of the contract.
Some have called the Government’s approach autocracy – the Government is not listening to the small, loud group that demands renegotiation. The renegotiation group behaves as if it is the Irfaan Ali-led government that is responsible for the debacle. When the contract was first exposed 18 months after it was signed by the Granger-led, PNC-controlled APNU/AFC government, these same people were silent. They did not jump on their high horses and demand that the contract be deemed null and void. Only one person within the present naysayers had talked about the one-sidedness of the contract once it was exposed.
Some renegotiating naysayers think we should not be extracting oil, because it adds to global warming, and Guyana should do what they deem the responsible thing – remain poor for the sake of the world. These persons want Guyana to leave the oil in the ground and condemn present and future generations of Guyanese to be poor forever, while they are silent about those who have enriched themselves for decades and continue to extract oil with impunity.
If that is what “responsible” means, count me out; I do not want to be “responsible”.
The Government has in fact listened to the concerns, and has taken a position that, instead of deferring or abandoning economic and social development by stalling or abandoning oil and gas production by a renegotiation challenge which has a probability of success of none to bleak, the country would make maximum use of oil-based revenues to propel development. In the process, the Government has explored, and continues to explore, all possibilities of extracting more benefits from EXXON and its partners.
The Local Content Act which has been enacted by the PPP government has already generated almost US$1B for Guyanese-owned companies since 2021, with more than US$550M so far generated in 2021, and has created more than 6,000 jobs. Government got EXXON to pay for the infrastructure to bring gas from the oil drills to shore, which has the potential to generate as much as 300MW of energy and reduce consumer electricity cost by 50% in 2025. The project would also lead to production of cooking gas, which would also lead to significant cost reduction for Guyanese families.
Further, Guyana would be able to export gas. While EXXON would need to recover its cost, Guyana makes no investment, but owns the gas and the gas industry. In addition, Guyana has ensured that all future PSAs outside of the Stabroek Block would be guided by better terms for Guyana, including more royalty, reduced investment recovery from annual revenues, and EXXON must pay taxes.
If the naysayers want their “pound of flesh” for the malfeasance of the bad Exxon deal, then why not demand that malfeasance charges be laid against those who are responsible? If Government makes any move to hold those responsible, the same people who now demand renegotiation would deem Irfaan Ali and Bharrat Jagdeo and their government dictators.
