…condemns “amateurish” approach by Govt.
(Kaieteur News) – Chartered Accountant and Attorney, Christopher Ram has called out the Government of Guyana (GoG) for what he described as “amateurish behaviour” that allows ExxonMobil to delay this country from receiving a larger portion of revenue, generated offshore.Daily News Digest
During a programme hosted by the Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN) and aired on Kaieteur Radio 99.1/ 99.5FM, Ram pointed to the implications of the refusal by government to ring-fence the projects in the Stabroek Block.
This mechanism would require that each oil project pays for itself. Once the expense related to that project is recovered by Exxon, the contractor and government would equally split all the revenue generated each month, after the operating expense is deducted.
In the absence of ring-fencing, Exxon takes 75% of all the oil produced to pay for projects that are still to startup.
To this end, Ram told listeners and viewers of the programme, hosted by former Stabroek News Editor, Anand Persaud, that Guyana is investing in the development taking place offshore. Be that as it may, the commentator flagged that the country is not recognised as an investor and does not enjoy any additional fiscal benefits.
He explained, “The implication of this is what is happening, we become an investor because part of that money – the profit share which we are foregoing is being invested and we get nothing for that. It’s more like if government is now a joint venture partner in this transaction and it shows a level of amateurishness and disregard for basic principles of overseeing and managing a contract of this significance and complexity.”Exxon project news
Ram argued that the GoG also turned its back on renegotiation, a clear indication that the administration “cannot be trusted” when it comes to “understanding, policy or integrity” relating to the petroleum agreement with Exxon.
The Lawyer agreed that implementing a ring-fencing provision would not require changes to the Petroleum Agreement with Exxon, yet the GoG continues to ignore calls in this regard.
Without this provision, he noted, “The oil companies have been permitted, quite improperly in my view – to charge future exploration cost of other projects against the wells that are productive. Now ring-fencing is implied in almost every contract but we don’t apply it. They have defended it and again we find this obscenity not to apply modern methods of transacting a kind of profit-sharing agreement, so it’s being driven by the contractors.
“Renegotiate those contracts”
Previously, a passionate and almost angry Bharrat Jagdeo while functioning as Leader of the Opposition, said in an interview that the then A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition government “sold” the country to “foreigners” because that administration failed to include ring-fencing to shore up profits from the 2016 PSA with Exxon.
At that time, Jagdeo assured that when the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) returned to office, this would be a priority when the contract is renegotiated.Investment strategy consulting
“They sold us out to the foreigners. The oil companies, every time there is a find out there, our people should be sad because nothing comes our way. We are gonna renegotiate those contracts because that’s not what we had in mind,” Jagdeo said.
He added, “When we were in the early days, we were coaxing the people (ExxonMobil) to go along. They (Coalition) came into office – three billion barrels of proven reserves and they gave up zero royalties, no taxes, no ring-fencing.”
After taking office in 2020, the now Vice President (VP) supports the lack of ring-fencing, a provision he believes will allow this country to benefit from massive revenues in the future. He is also an adamant defender of the sanctity of contracts, which government believes binds them to the lopsided terms in the agreement.
Original link posted by Kaieteur News on April 19, 2026.
