The World Bank, Guyana’s development partner of many years, is being challenged to prove that Guyana’s gas-to-shore project will not fall to the same fate as Ghana’s project. The African nation’s Sankofa field gas project, endorsed and partly financed by the Bank, has trapped Ghana in a deal which forces it to pay hundreds of millions of dollars every year for gas that it does not use.
International Lawyer, Melinda Janki; Guyana’s former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran and co-founder of the Oil & Gas Governance Network, Darshanand Khusial, have challenged World Bank President, David Malpass, in a joint August 14 letter to press his team on this issue and provide answers.
The Bank is assisting Guyana to develop its petroleum regulatory framework under a US$20M loan project called ‘Guyana’s Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project (P166730).’
The writers are concerned, among other things, that the execution of this World Bank-endorsed gas-to-shore project in Guyana could result in Guyana falling prey to a deal which forces it to pay for unused gas, due to an oversupply.
