Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 17, 2018 News
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo says that Guyana needs to train 400 of its brightest minds to take over the management of the oil and gas sector.
Jagdeo said yesterday that this is the plan of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) which was shared with ExxonMobil during a recent meeting.
However, he stated that getting Government to put the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure the successful management of the sector is ‘worse than pulling teeth’.
“We plan to put in place a Guyanese bureaucracy in the good sense of the word. I believe 300 to 400 of our brightest people – well trained, properly paid to oversee the contract administration with the oil companies. That is what our aim is,” Jagdeo stated.
He was at the time responding to a question from Kaieteur News relating to the US$460M pre-contract cost that is built into the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) agreement signed between the coalition Government and ExxonMobil. This cost has to be repaid to ExxonMobil.
Last week, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan said that there is a lack of capacity to audit the pre-contact cost submitted by ExxonMobil.
The US$460M only accounts for 1999 to 2015. Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram is of the opinion that the cost is overstated by US$92M and that additional pre-contract cost should be expected for the period January 2016 to October 2016.
International Lawyer Melinda Janki calculates that Guyana owes ExxonMobil at least US$900M as of October 2016.
Costs continue to be incurred from 2016 to now, towards the development of the Liza Phase One Project. This will be added on top of the pre-contract cost and is recoverable. It is believed that without proper checks and balances, Guyana could be overpaying and losing out on vital revenues from oil.
“We believe in getting our fair share. Exxon and the others have a right to make money, but we believe we have to get a fair share,” Jagdeo stated.
JAGDEO ADDING MORE DANGER TO GUYANA AND THE REGION
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