Opinion
Local Content in oil industry must be measured in value
There are several news reports that government is preparing the final draft of its local content policy (act or law). There are also several commentaries on the issue. KN has focused extensively on issues pertaining to the oil industry – especially on how the nation is being hoodwinked (cheated and robbed) in broad daylight on…
TIGI says international law could protect Guyana from oppressive parts of Exxon deal
The Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI) is suggesting that international laws could protect Guyana from the most egregious provisions of the oil agreement with an ExxonMobil subsidiary since by contravening domestic law it violates several of the guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In the ninth installment of a series of…
Exxon’s management accused of cooking the books to deceive shareholders; what about a third party like Guyana?
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…
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?
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…
Guyana exploited on oil Exploration and Recovery
There are countless flaws in the oil contracts between Guyana and the multinational companies. Guyana has been shafted (exploited or get very little) in the contracts with oil companies as reported so many times in KN.It is reported in KN and the international media that oil companies have paid Brazil some US$2.2 billion for rights…
Oil is having an impact on Guyana’s exchange rate
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…
Guyana through incompetence and negligence failed to negotiate a signing bonus of USD 1 billion
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…