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Darsh Khusial

How is Exxon going to prove its share of the pre-contract costs incurred in Guyana if its automatic ‘file sweep’ programme deleted records dated before August 2015?

News EditorNovember 3, 2019November 4, 201903 mins

Exxon has an automatic ‘file sweep’ programme that has been deleting company records dated before August 2015. And, apparently, no backup exists for the deleted records. Did Exxon’s automatic ‘file sweep’ programme brush away the pre-contract records? Hence, what evidence will Exxon be submitting to prove its portion of the estimated US$900 million pre-contract costs?…

Darsh Khusial

Exxon’s management accused of cooking the books to deceive shareholders; what about a third party like Guyana?

News EditorOctober 27, 2019November 4, 201902 mins

Exxon is accused of cooking the books. One set of accounting records for shareholders (investors) and another for its management. This may have cost Exxon’s shareholders up to US$1.6 billion in damages. That is the case brought by the New York Office of the Attorney General (NY OAG) and now on trial. Even more concerning…

Darsh Khusial

Why is it fair for Exxon to pay the US government hundreds of billions of US dollars in taxes on oil profits but none to Guyana?

News EditorOctober 20, 2019October 3, 202002 mins

Taxes are fundamental to developing the Western world’s prestigious institutions and first-class infrastructure. In Canada, heart attack surgery is free. In the US, for a few dollars, you can hop on to a NYC bullet train that rockets you down the tracks to Boston. These services wouldn’t be affordable without the taxes paid by major…

Tarron Khemraj

Oil is having an impact on Guyana’s exchange rate

News EditorOctober 13, 2019October 16, 201903 mins

I have written over ten columns on the foreign exchange (FX) market since 2009. These essays are direct in the sense that they address explicitly the question of what is determining the exchange rate and the quantity traded in the local market. In 2017, I wrote a six-part series to address some of the issues…

Mike Persaud

Guyana through incompetence and negligence failed to negotiate a signing bonus of USD 1 billion

News EditorOctober 13, 2019January 15, 202001 mins

Early Saturday morning, Nigel Hinds and a number of his colleagues were in Guyana handing out food to the homeless. We saw several pictures on the world- wide Internet. We find the pictures very moving. But more than that: they capture for us a sense of incompetence and negligence by the Government of Guyana.Given we…

Tarron Khemraj

Some initial conditions as first oil beckons

News EditorSeptember 15, 2019September 15, 201902 mins

If we want to say something about the future state of an event, we have to account for the initial conditions. Given that we live in a complex world, the outcomes often depend on the initial conditions. It is possible that one initial condition could produce multiple outcomes, making the task of prediction fraught with…

Darsh Khusial

Guyana could lose US$8 to 16 billion in interest rates from Exxon – Canadian engineer

News EditorSeptember 9, 2019September 15, 201903 mins

Guyana’s Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), for the Stabroek Block has fielded major criticisms for a range of provisions, or the lack thereof, which are disastrous for Guyana.Now, Darshanand Khusial has stated that a failure to define “market rate” as it is stated in the Contract…

Darsh Khusial

BILLIONS OF US DOLLARS COULD BE LOST BY FAILING TO DEFINE “MARKET RATE” IN THE OIL CONTRACTS

News EditorSeptember 8, 2019September 15, 201903 mins

Guyana is responsible for paying the interest on the oil companies’ loans. This fact is buried in the Production Sharing Agreements (PSA). (Stabroek Block PSA, Annex C Section 3.1 part (l)). The interest rate to be paid is loosely noted as “market rate”. This flaw may cost Guyana billions of US dollars. It takes just…

Tarron Khemraj

A summary of my thoughts on the oil contract

News EditorAugust 25, 2019October 27, 201902 mins

There have been several lofty predictions of gross revenues that the Guyana government is likely to receive. For example, Rystad Energy recently announced that the government will earn over US$100 billion in oil revenues from the Stabroek block alone. However, it is important to note that the gross oil revenue the government is expected to…

Mike Persaud

Mr Trotman and Mr Jordan should call a press conference to explain the Exxon contract

News EditorAugust 20, 2019August 21, 201901 mins

Under Melinda Janki’s letter (SN: 18/08/19), I asked several questions: What royalties are we getting on one million barrels of oil? Is it 250 barrels or 2,000 barrels? Is the royalty assessed on barrels sold? If only 1,000 barrels are sold, does this mean royalty would be assessed and paid on only 1,000 barrels? Mr…

A sustainable budget for Guyana will inevitably be tied to the NRF and domestic taxes barring renegotiation

The world has not stopped using sugar even as GuySuCo is yet to map out its own success strategy

The PSA2016 agreement should be renegotiated to uphold Guyana’s Constitutional Laws

From ‘No Guyanese Could Agree’ to ‘No Interest’: President Ali’s Impossible Retraction

GuySuCo must reduce its cost of production to competitive world market price levels to turn its loss making activity into a profitable venture

I join with others in calling for the revising of the 2016 PSA

How is Exxon going to prove its share of the pre-contract costs incurred in Guyana if its automatic ‘file sweep’ programme deleted records dated before August 2015?

Exxon’s management accused of cooking the books to deceive shareholders; what about a third party like Guyana?

Why is it fair for Exxon to pay the US government hundreds of billions of US dollars in taxes on oil profits but none to Guyana?

Oil is having an impact on Guyana’s exchange rate

Guyana through incompetence and negligence failed to negotiate a signing bonus of USD 1 billion

Some initial conditions as first oil beckons

Guyana could lose US$8 to 16 billion in interest rates from Exxon – Canadian engineer

BILLIONS OF US DOLLARS COULD BE LOST BY FAILING TO DEFINE “MARKET RATE” IN THE OIL CONTRACTS

A summary of my thoughts on the oil contract

Mr Trotman and Mr Jordan should call a press conference to explain the Exxon contract