With billions already gained on the stock market from its oil find here, ExxonMobil and its partners can “more than afford” to pay Guyana US$1 billion instead of the US$18 million received as a signing bonus, according to energy expert Dr Vincent Adams, who also strongly believes that the government should go back to the negotiating table for a better deal.
“The company’s value increased significantly with Guyana’s discovery [in 2015], which is so far accounting for about 20% of the company’s total recoverable reserves, putting an additional US$200+ billion on its books—a humongous gain compared to Guyana’s US$18 million,” Adams, a former long-serving senior official with the US Department of Energy (DoE), told the Sunday Stabroek in an interview from the United States where he lives.
