The recent revelations that Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, met with Merrill Lynch, who is likely interested in the investment feature of Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund has exposed some fundamental flaws. This view was shared by Auditor and Financial consultant, Nigel Hinds, who said that the Government’s approach is the ‘minus 101 manner of…
In February 2018, Exxon produced a 20-minute Facebook video in which its stated purpose was to address questions concerning the Oil Contract, Revenues and Taxes. At minute 10, the presenter declaims: Guyana is a frontier country. And, further states that the Guyanese people should be satisfied with the oil contract. Pronouncing Guyana as a “frontier…
On Thursday October 18th, 2018 the Stabroek News published an article entitled `Merrill Lynch interested in sovereign wealth fund’. The investment world has taken notice of the potential wealth that lays offshore in Guyana. The government should study the history of those who seek to bestow advice on how to manage Guyana’s potential windfall. The flawed oil contract…
Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded (Part 62) Introduction During the recently-concluded United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA, the Guyana Delegation led by Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge facilitated a meeting between the Governor of the Bank of Guyana and representatives of Merrill Lynch, the investment arm of the Bank…
Introduction Last week’s column provided additional data on the first of four features of Guyana’s recent oil and gas discovery; that is, its physical/geological configuration. The column amplified on three attributes: the geological make-up; its location offshore; and, the size or quantum of potential reserves. Today’s column amplifies on the second feature, namely, the project…
Mr Robin Mills, a guru in the oil industry, writing for The National, an online and print media platform, posted on October 8, 2018 that “Guyana may be the next big beast in global oil”. Mills foresees the country emerging as the top per capita oil producer. It is noteworthy that Mr Mills ignored the…
Introduction In an advertisement appearing in the national media yesterday, the Ministry of Natural Resources, on its own behalf and that of the Government of Guyana, invited expressions of interest by Consultants desirous of providing services to the Project Execution Unit, presumably of the Ministry, to “conduct an audit of the Recoverable Contract Costs as…
(Click on diagram to enlarge.) From a farcical entrapment of the Government of Guyana into being liable for Pre-Contract Costs, outlined in the chart above; costs that under normal conditions are wholly the responsibility of the Contractor Partners in the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement re: Esson, Hess and Nexen.
Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded (Part 60) Introduction Following last week’s call for a Commission of Inquiry into the Petroleum Sector, more than a handful of individuals approached me enquiring whether the call was serious and what would be the expected outcome. After the spate of Presidential Commissions of Inquiry…
Chartered Accountant, Nigel Hinds, is one of the few Guyanese who have not given up on the prospect of the nation securing a better contract with oil giant, ExxonMobil. The recent utterances of the Trinidadian Prime Minister, Keith Rowley to the effect that no contract is set in stone and should always benefit both parties,…
