Latest update December 12th, 2024 1:00 AM
Guyana loses out big time in Ogle Airport deal with ExxonMobil
The land at Ogle which has been cleared and which has been sub-leased by OAI to ExxonMobil’s subsidiary.
With the coming of first oil in a matter of months, there have been endless talks about how much Guyana would benefit.
However, one major deal is raising serious questions about the oversight by persons representing the interest of the state.
It has to do with over 15 acres of state land at Ogle that Ogle Airport Inc. ( OAI) has leased to Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), the local subsidiary of ExxonMobil. This subsidiary will start with its partners in a few months time to produce oil offshore Guyana.
EEPGL has entered into an agreement with Ogle Airport Inc. (OAI) to lease the state lands to build an office complex what will reportedly cost upwards of US$50M. The construction will be done by local contractor, Nabi Construction Firm and Kee-Chanona Limited (Trinidad).
OAI leased over 407 acres of state land from Government in 2003. The lease from Government to OAI was supposed to be up in 2028.
However, in July 2017, OAI entered a Memorandum of Understanding with EEPGL to sublease 10 acres for 30 years for where for the first four years, Ogle Airport Inc. would receive US$43,570 or US$4,357 per acre per year from EEPGL
According to Article 5 in the master lease , OAI pays the Government only US$6 per acre for what is prime property.
The arrangement between OAI and ExxonMobil’s subsidiary was conditional that OAI secured an extension of the master lease beyond 2028.
To meet the requirement by EEPGL for security to their land, the Guyana Lands and Survey extended the OAI Master Lease to 2068 effective 1st January, 2018.
This has raised serious concerns about anti competitive behaviour by OAI as Kaieteur News has seen a letter written by a small Guyanese aircraft operator to Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, where he advised that upon querying an update on his land application in October 2017, he was told that he had to wait.
In fact, OAI’s chief told him there were 40 other applications ahead of him.
However, six months after the MoU with OAI was signed in July 2017, EEPGL secured tenure and commenced land development.
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