Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 07, 2020 News
By Kiana Wilburg
Global Witness, an international organization that has fought against natural resource exploitation, poverty, and corruption since 1993, recently published a report called “Signed Away” which has added more firewood to the heated debate on whether Guyana got a good deal with ExxonMobil for the oil-rich Stabroek Block.
In summary, Global Witness says its fiscal analysis shows that Guyana left US$55B on the table due to poor negotiations on the part of Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman. The non-governmental organization also believes that ExxonMobil had a role to play as it employed some strong-arm tactics.
Since being released for public consumption, the report has attracted concerns from many about the veracity of the inherent accusations and their real intentions, as well as scathing criticisms from the government.
To set the record straight, Jonathan Gant, Senior Campaigner for Oil, Gas and Mining at Global Witness took part in an interview on Kaieteur Radio’s programme, Guyana’s Oil and You yesterday afternoon.
There, Gant explained that the main intention of the report was to determine whether the Guyana-ExxonMobil deal was any good, in Guyana’s best interest, and whether it was what the country deserved. Gant acknowledged that even before Global Witness started its investigation back in May 2019, there were already concerns about the deal in the local media.
In this regard, the Senior Campaigner recalled that the local media would have exposed the fact that the contract was hidden for more than a year, that the US$18M signing bonus was shrouded in secrecy, and that there were concerns about possible corruption.
Gant said that the team at Global Witness started collecting evidence and upon examination of same, found that Guyana got a deal that was simply exploitative; hence the recommendation for a renegotiation was made. Further to this, Gant noted that Open Oil was contracted to do a fiscal analysis, and the results showed that Guyana did leave US$55B on the table. Gant said that the model used to compute this is free for anyone “to play with” while nothing that it is absolutely credible.
Based in Berlin, Open Oil is considered a leading provider of financial analysis and commercial advice to governments and other public entities around the world. It also has extensive experience in advising on asset valuation, negotiations, fiscal regimes, auditing revenues and more.
Gant told Kaieteur Radio that with its ‘Signed Away’ report, Global Witness is not saying Guyana should kill its oil deal based on its findings. “Guyana is not as developed as it wants to be. (And) we do not have the right, as much as we have talked to many individuals, (to say) don’t take this oil. We are not saying that you should cancel the deal,” Gant said. He stressed however that Global Witness is simply recommending that the people did not get what they deserve.
CORRUPTION
When asked to say if the investigations found any evidence of corruption where the deal is concerned, an emphatic “no” was Gant’s response. He is of the view, however, that this is what makes this the story of the Exxon-Guyana deal even more compelling and important.
Gant said that Global Witness does not necessarily believe this is a story of corrupt people, but rather, an aggressive company that rushed through a deal, meanwhile, officials who knew that they needed more information, acquired it, ignored it, and then rushed to close the deal just two days before the value of another oil discovery (Liza Two) was going to be made public.
“Why on earth would anybody sign away the country’s biggest asset before knowing the true value of it? That just strikes me as extraordinary,” the Senior Campaigner expressed.
With respect to criticisms that the report is baseless and full of sensationalism, Gant said, “I don’t believe the report is sensationalist. We found evidence and produced it! We made nothing up. We aren’t allowed to do so, both professionally and legally…I think our evidence shows they (ExxonMobil) were aggressive and the US as partner has an influence (to push for the deal to be renegotiated)…”
As far as the criticism of timing is concerned, Gant said he appreciates that it is election season for Guyana, but there was no sinister motive behind the release of the document at this time.
Gant said, “We wanted to publish as soon as we could, because every day Exxon produces is a day that is going to make it harder for renegotiation to happen, and the more and more they get entrenched, the lesser the interest will be from the government to change the terms, and the harder the fight from the companies against it will be.”
The Senior Campaigner added, “It is really hard to report on Exxon and big companies. We have to write to them, give them weeks to respond, and go through a bunch of legal checks.”
Overall, Gant said he stands by the contents of the report, of which he was an instrumental part in putting together, while stating emphatically that there is evidence to support every accusation made.
(To hear a rebroadcast of this 55-minute interview, be sure to tune into Kaieteur Radio on Friday from 1 PM to 2PM and 8PM to 9PM; Saturday from 8AM to 9AM and 8 PM to 9 PM; and on Sunday from 8PM to 9PM. )
LISTEN HOW JAGDEO WILL MAKE ALL GUYANESE RICH!!!
Apr 23, 2024
Kaieteur Sports – Over the weekend, the prestigious Lusignan Golf Club played host to the highly anticipated AMCHAM Golf Tournament, drawing golf enthusiasts and professionals alike from across...Kaieteur News – Just recently, the PPC determined that it does not have the authority to vitiate a contract which was... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]