The Guyana Revenue Authority says it is examining the audit report for US$460M of ‘pre-contract costs.’ Irrespective of any audit by IHS Markit, or anybody else, the Guyanese people are not liable for any ‘pre-contract costs’ unless three conditions are met. One: Clear legal authority. Where was Raphael Trotman’s legal authority to agree to ‘pre-contract…
Dear Friends and Supporters, Much has happened in the last few months! In October, the Acting Chief Justice ordered the three oil companies to be joined to the action. The good news is that they may not recover any costs against the litigant Mr Gaskin. Our lawyers have since put in the affidavits in reply…
I recommend the article written by Ann Usher on ‘Indigenous groups in Guyana raise alarm over historic issuance of carbon credits by Norwegian-funded certifier’, Development Today, 23 December 2022. Available at: https://development-today.com/archive/dt-2022/dt-9-10—2022/indigenous-groups-in-guyana-raise-alarm-over-historic-issuance-of-carbon-credits-by-norwegian-funded-certifier. Development Today describes itself as ‘a free-standing journal covering Nordic aid, produced with no grants from donors or NGOs. Our journalism is funded by…
Observers say the PPP/C is stealthily rushing its new NRF bill (and repealing the APNU+AFC’s NRF Act already passed) while the nation is distracted by yearend festivities. Knowing how “politricks” work in Guyana, this is a plausible explanation for the rush. Exxon, Hess and CNOOC are shipping away the bulk of our oil wealth, leaving…
Introduction In last week’s discussion of Guyana’s proposed local content requirements (LCRs) policy for its coming oil and gas extraction industry, I had introduced three key concepts, which require further elaboration. Those concepts are 1) the enclave economy; 2) the potential for transmission of economic linkages and spillovers from a successful oil and gas industry…
Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded (Part 63) Introduction It has been nearly a month since the last column appeared on October 19 under the title Complex for the White Man, Disdain for Locals. Recent developments have lent an aura of prescience about that column as we witnessed and contrasted the…
OGGN’s mission is to educate and bring pressure to bear on Guyana’s policy makers to make sure the oil curse doesn’t happen in Guyana. You can learn more about OGGN at www.oggn.org/about, and you can also learn about the many issues with respect to our oil in the recently launched OGGN Magazine at https://www.oggn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/OGGN-2022-Winter-Magazine.pdf. This week the…
Details, including the full terms of reference or scope, remain unpublished regarding the 2018-2020 ExxonMobil Guyana US$7.3B cost recovery audit report, leaving Guyanese to speculate on the political, economic, and military influences on Guyanese-led RVHE Consulting and international firms: Martindale Consultants Inc. and SGS. Kaieteur News released an article on November 12th, titled, ‘How ExxonMobil…
Renegotiate, rescind, reimburse, then auction off so that Guyana reaps the maximum value from its oil blocks, is the advice that petroleum expert Dr Jan Mangal drilled into those who attended his presentation at the Guyana Petro-leum Summit in Houston, Texas on Thursday. He also warned that if the contentious Exxon-Mobil deal is preserved as…
Reference is made to the letter entitled “The legitimacy of the Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN) is highly questionable” (Stabroek News, July 27, 2023). In the summer of 2017, OGGN was created as a legitimate non-profit organization located in Hollis, New York, United States of America. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United…
