Over $48B in oil receipts tabled for second quarter

Jul 22, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Senior Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh on Thursday presented notification receipts to the National Assembly of all petroleum revenues paid into the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) during the period April 2022 to June 2022.

Senior Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh

In the second quarter, the country received $4.3B for royalty paid by ExxonMobil and its partners in the Stabroek Block. That sum was for royalties due in the first quarter of 2022. Also, $21.3B was received for the payment of profit oil earned from the Liza Unity vessel and executed on April 25, 2022. Finally, $22.6B was deposited into the NRF. This was profit oil payments from the Liza Destiny Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel executed on May 3, 2022. In all, the deposits totalled $48.2B.

The receipts were also published in the Official Gazette on July 18, 2022.

Minister Singh said the foregoing reaffirms the PPP/C Government’s commitment to greater accountability and transparency in the management of Guyana’s oil resources.

He recalled that the NRF Act 2021 came into operation on January 1, 2022, replacing the illegitimate APNU/AFC NRF Act 2019.

Minister Singh reminded as well that one of the key amendments to the legislation is that the Finance Minister could face up to 10 years imprisonment if he fails to disclose the receipt of any petroleum revenue received by the government in the Official Gazette within three months of receipt of such monies.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which recently concluded the 2022 Article IV mission to Guyana in May-June of this year, had commended the PPP/C Government on the amendments made to the NRF Act. IMF Staff also said that the recent amendments to the 2019 Natural Resource Fund Act set clear ceilings on withdrawals from the fund for budgetary spending and promote transparency in the management and use of oil resources.

IMF Staff also praised the authorities’ thorough review of the 2019 NRF Act and its restraint in using any oil revenues before the passage of the amendments.

The PPP/C Government he said will continue to manage Guyana’s oil resources in a clear and transparent manner to the benefit of present and future generations.