Could Guyana escape the natural resource curse? Part 5: economic research capacity and the oil contract

Making prediction in a complex and nonlinear world often involves identifying initial conditions and then sequentially reasoning (or solving) forward. One way of knowing how well Guyana will do with its newfound oil and gas resources is to consider the initial conditions that exist in the country today. In this column and future ones, I…

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Exxon contract final -Harmon

The controversial Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed between the government and ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary and partners is final and will not be subject to any changes, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said yesterday. “The President has said it—that we have dealt with the ExxonMobil contract and that we are not going back on it. It…

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Trotman must make the ExxonMobil contract public

I thank the Ministry of Natural Resources for a courteous response to my recent letter (‘Exxon’s environmental record does not bear scrutiny’ SN, March 8). However an assurance that the government is “carefully and assiduously” building the capacity of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Marine Administration Department and the Civil Defence Commission rather misses…

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What is downstream?

Downstream is the processing and selling of refined products in the oil and gas business. These products just do not include gasoline and diesel, but a whole gamut of products as outlined below. The “super majors” like ExxonMobil are involved in many elements of these processes as joint venture partners in hundreds of money-spinning projects. This…

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Oil agreement and the President

On February 14th, the third anniversary of the Cummingsburg Accord which masterminded the victory of the APNU+AFC coalition at the 2015 general elections, President Granger was asked whether the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between his government and ExxonMobil subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEGPL) would be renegotiated. His answer did not rise…

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Securing advances on oil revenues should be considered – US-based business professor

Seeking advances on future revenue from ExxonMobil should be under discussion, according to United States-based Guyanese business professor and accountant Floyd Haynes, who says the benefits for a developing nation like ours are incalculable and can outweigh the disadvantages “I think it should be considered. You are borrowing against future revenues. There are …benefits to…

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Guyana Is About to Open Up Pandora’s Barrel – Expats hold the key to whether its big offshore oil deposits bring riches — or ruin.

Wedged between Brazil and Venezuela, Guyana could easily go unnoticed. It has fewer than 750,000 people and a per capita income of $4,300, half the regional average, qualifying it as the hemisphere’s third-poorest nation.  At the moment, Guyana also might be its luckiest. Having struck big oil offshore starting in 2015, industry experts reckon total reserves at around 2 billion…

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