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…
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…
The city parking meters galvanised the people of Georgetown. Irrespective of race or political party, they came out to protest against the implementation of the meters. The major newspapers in Guyana covered the protests, giving nationwide visibility to the issue. The pressure was sufficient to get the meters removed. The debacle turned the passion in…
Many Guyanese are now aware of some version of the natural resource curse (NRC). One taxi driver explained the idea to me last week and he also gave the Dutch disease a good shot. Economists have been pondering these ideas for at least three decades. They, however, tend not outline the transmission mechanisms of the…
On the weekend, the media reported on a real time facial recognition and facial tracking system to be deployed for 24 hours surveillance in Georgetown and the East Bank of Demerara. It was described by a government official as, “…one of the best developments for our country…”.This facial recognition technology has been banned in San…
How would you use data to explain that this is a fair contract to the average Guyanese? On Thursday July 18th, the Stabroek News published an interview of Mr Henson, ExxonMobil Country Manager. Mr Henson is quoted as saying, “The contract is a fair contract. It absolutely is a fair contract given the risk profile…
In 2016, the APNU+AFC Government renegotiated a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) Guyana had with ExxonMobil’s subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), and its two other partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC/NEXEN. After unceasing calls for its release, the PSA was finally made public in December 2017. From then to now, everyone besides ExxonMobil and…
If an agreement is signed between the Government and a third party, can a new administration rescind that agreement?After reviewing what the Trump administration did with the Paris Club agreement and the Iran Nuclear Deal agreement, I am of the opinion that a new administration in Guyana can do the same.President Obama’s administration signed the…
It is my honest opinion that Kaieteur News should be awarded with the highest honour of the land for their continuous reporting on the massively flawed Petroleum Agreement between the Government and the contractors (Esso/Cnooc/Hess) and by extension Exxon. This petroleum contract, signed by Minister Trotman (his initial RT is on every page of the…
Presentation deck can be found here: Political aspects of the resource curse
