THE Director of Public Information, Imran Khan, has refuted claims of the government siphoning off oil money elsewhere and has provided supporting documents to confirm that a Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) account contains the licence fees.
The claims were made in a Stabroek News column entitled: “The road to first oil”, published on Friday and written by Christopher Ram.

The director highlighted a portion of the column which states: “…however, there is a sum of one million United States dollars which the government has been receiving under a revised Article 10 on the anniversary date, which not surprisingly, has not been defined. According to new Article 10, this amount is paid not to the GGMC but into a bank account held and controlled by the Government of Guyana! Not sure what Trotman means, but the Agreement requires the Contractor to verify the bank accounts. So there is another US$2 million in some bank account.”

However, he clarified that the money was indeed paid to an account controlled by the GGMC. A bank statement from the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) illustrates that the relevant licence fee was deposited into the GGMC account (account number: 002177546019). The bank statement revealed that in the account was a sum of $265,658,000 credit (money received) and $5,000 debit (money owed).

Khan stressed, “Until the Petroleum Commission is in place, GGMC will receive the licence fees from all companies and act as the regulatory agency and will transfer monies to the new entity once established.”