Dear Editor
THE Ministry of Natural Resources notes attempts by the publisher of the Kaieteur News to mislead its readers on the Production Sharing Agreement between the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and ExxonMobil and its joint-venture partners.
An article in the February 14 edition of the newspaper headlined, “Oil contract reveals … Guyana agrees to not go after ExxonMobil’s hidden financial records regarding operations here” is nothing short of disingenuous. First, the right and responsibility of the Minister of Natural Resources in relation to having regular audits of ExxonMobil’s operations in Guyana would have been reported on by Kaieteur News and other media. To state in a headline that Guyana agrees to not go after financial records of the company could only be construed as disingenuous.

Clear contradictory statements contained in the article can be credited as either mischief or careless editing. In one paragraph the article states, “…the Government of Guyana agreed to relinquish all rights to go after documents in relation to operations here,” while the following paragraph states, “The Government of Guyana has agreed to limit the scope of any audit it may pursue…” These two statements are inconsistent and shows the incongruity of the arguments put forward in the article.

Annex C of the PSA, “Nothing herein shall entitle the Minister or his auditors to have access to data and records which: I) are subject to statutory restrictions on disclosure or ii) do not relate to petroleum operations; or iii) are not customarily disclosed in auditing practice in the international petroleum industry…” is clear and Kaieteur News should explain the exact complaints with the quoted section.
The ministry welcomes scrutiny and calls for transparency, but these need to be tempered by objectivity.
Regards
Johann Earle
Public Affairs and Communications Officer
Ministry of Natural Resources