— only relevant GRA staffers to get excerpts of Exxon contract
THE Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has said that in keeping with government’s position on the non-disclosure of the contract with U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil, only “relevant officers” will have access to excerpts of the pact.
In a statement on Thursday, the entity said part of its commitment involves the imposition of rigid systems at the authority to closely monitor exploration companies that are undertaking exploration and extraction of oil offshore, in keeping with the contractual agreement between the Guyana Government and such oil exploration companies, including ExxonMobil.
“The GRA is privy to such contractual arrangements. However, in keeping with the law, this information is confidential. To maintain its confidentiality and avoid leakages, the commissioner-general will only share such excerpts of the said agreement with relevant officers in the event that their duties require them being privy to such information in the execution of such duties,” the statement said.
GRA said too that its position takes into consideration several factors, chief among them, the sensitivity and confidentiality of the document and the level of caution that had to be imposed as a result of persistent breaches of the Secrecy Oath at the authority.
“The recent Kaieteur News article “GRA officials ‘sailing’ on EXXON contract” is the latest such breach of confidentiality and further evidence of the need to exercise such diligence,” the statement added.
Last month, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) – one of the parties in the coalition government – and the Transparency Institute Guyana Incorporated (TIGI), called for public disclosure of the contract between ExxonMobil and the Government of Guyana.
In a letter sent to President David Granger, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, and Minster of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman, the party said it has noted the continued withholding of the general publication of the contract between ExxonMobil – the company currently drilling for oil here – and its partners with the Government of Guyana, and that this decision is “unwise for several reasons.”
As such, the WPA said there is no justifiable reason for this government not to publish the contract with the oil-giant, which is expected to commence production by 2020 and urged the government to release the contract in the interest of transparency and accountability.
However, in March of this year, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman had said that “full disclosure [of the contract] at this point in time… would not be to the best of the national benefit or national interest.”
In June, the Ministry of Natural Resources approved the ExxonMobil Liza Phase 1 development plan and issued a production licence for the Liza field, an important milestone towards the first phase of oil production at the Liza field offshore Guyana.
Production is expected to begin in 2020.
