Opinion
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…
Response to criticisms of TIGI’s claim that the petroleum contracts are in breach of the Procurement Act
In the Thursday September 12, 2019 edition of Stabroek News (SN), our claim that the award of the petroleum exploration licences was subject to the Public Procurement Act was rejected by the Public Procurement Commission and by Dr. Anand Goolsarran, a former auditor general and past president of TIGI. Our column to which these individuals…
Chapter #8 – Exxon Contract: The public policy issues
In a succinct and elegant statement, Thomas Dye defines public policy as “anything a government chooses to do or not to do” (Dye, 1972: 2). Public policy therefore has a wide reach and affects all sectors of society. It encompasses laws, any actions of government, funding priorities and the regulations that reflect given positions, attitudes,…
Some initial conditions as first oil beckons
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…
Exxon is also robbing Guyana of its independent leaders and columnists
Freddie Kissoon in his Kaieteur News column dated September 5, 2019 stated: “I am bamboozled by the insane frequency of the condemnations of Exxon, but no condemnation of the hate Sanjeev said is currently threatening Guyana.”Another columnist wrote in similar vein of Guyanese condemning Exxon “… your Eyewitness is getting a tad tired with the…
I applaud Govt. for curtailing uncapped interests
Dear Editor, I applaud the government for announcing that ‘uncapped interests’ will not be recovered as expenses in oil and gas exploration and production (KN Sep 12). I salute the media and other forces for being vigilant on the oil industry exposing shenanigans and looking out for the country’s interests unlike some politicians who are…