…as US$26.5B in bills still to be verified
(Kaieteur News) – A pool of money so large that it triples the size of Guyana’s national debt has been pocketed by U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil for its investments in the Stabroek Block, but the country is yet to ensure that the company did not try to inflate any of those expenses paid for with the nation’s oil.

It was recently revealed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of Exxon, Darren Woods that the company has recovered a staggering US$55B using Guyana’s oil. This accounts for all of the company’s investment and operational costs according to him.

ExxonMobil walks away with almost three times Guyana’s debt without being audited
Exxon CEO, Darren Woods

Oil-rich Guyana is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that it checks the expenses incurred by the operator to ensure the prices it paid for goods and services met industry benchmarks and aligned with costs that can be recovered in keeping with the terms of the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).

The deal outlines specific goods and services that can be paid for using Guyana’s oil.

To ensure that Exxon did not force Guyana into paying higher costs, or for items it is not legally mandated to pay for, the country is expected to audit the company’s expenses within two years from the end of each year according to the oil contract.

To date, Guyana has conducted three audits for US$28.5B in expenses for Exxon. This means an eye-watering US$26.5B in bills are yet to be audited by Guyana or almost three times the country’s national debt which is expected to climb to US$10B by the end of 2026.

Guyana’s first audit of Exxon covered the period 1999-2017. During this timeframe, Exxon said it incurred US$1.7B in expenses, but the British auditors found US$214M of those costs were wrongfully included. Government has said it is not budging on the figure and will fight Exxon to return the sum.

Meanwhile, the second audit covered the period 2018-2020. A Guyanese audit team, VHE Consulting, were tasked with reviewing some US$7.2B in costs this time and found US$65.1M incorrectly charged.

The third and largest audit yet for the company reviewed expenses for the years 2021-2023 of a whopping US$19.6B. That audit was also awarded to the local company which is yet to publish the report.

On 15th May, 2025 the minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat revealed that the audit was completed and the report handed over to government for review. Five months later, in October, Bharrat informed this newspaper that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) was still conducting a technical review of the report and would make the document public after the process was completed. When asked again, Bharrat directed all questions to the tax agency.

GRA has not responded to any queries from this newspaper relating to the audit.

The review of the company’s financial activities is crucial in ensuring that Guyana received its rightful share of profits from the Stabroek Block. In accordance with the terms of the Petroleum Agreement, ExxonMobil and its co-venturers invest in developing the resources discovered in the block. Guyana has taken a back-seat approach where spending by the Stabroek block partners is concerned. The government has agreed to review business transactions after the company spends billions of U.S-dollars which must be paid back by Guyana with its oil. This process is known as cost recovery.

Prior to the recovery of its US$55B investment, Exxon was taking 75% of Guyana’s oil produced each month to meet expenses associated with developing the seven projects approved to date.

This arrangement has often been criticised with stakeholders demanding not only a reduction in the cost recovery percentage, but a seat at the table where large contracts especially are negotiated. In this manner, Guyana can ensure it gets the best value for its money, prior to the signing of an agreement, as compared with verifying costs after a contract is awarded.

The GoG has deviated from the “sanctity of contract” on the audit provisions that require audits of Exxon to be conducted within two years. Instead, Vice President and Chief Policymaker for the petroleum sector, Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that “bricks would rain down on Exxon’s head” if the company were to refuse the country the opportunity of checking its books beyond the timeframe outlined in the contract.

ExxonMobil walks away with almost three times Guyana’s debt without being audited
Vice President and Chief Policymaker for the oil and gas sector, Bharrat Jagdeo

He said, “We dealt with this issue when it came up several years ago; that it is true that the PSA says that the audit has to be completed within two years. So, we had gone pass, even under the APNU period, the two years had passed even before they started the audit and we made it clear when we got in to office, no matter how long the audits take, ExxonMobil and the co-venturers, the companies could never use as an excuse, the timeline in there.”

He continued, “…because if they use that and don’t want to comply with the audit, they would have a ton of brick falling on their head on other issues on the regulatory side.”

Original link posted by Kaieteur News/a> on August 23, 2026