…promises to criminalise non-disclosure of oil receipts

ADDRESSING a gathering at a public meeting held on Monday night at Enterprise, on the East of Coast Demerara, the People Progressive Party Civic (PPP\C) General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, accused the APNU+AFC Government of selling out to the world’s largest publicly-traded international oil and gas company, ExxonMobil.

“APNU stuck us with a contract where very little comes to our people… $55B we will lose and I don’t know whether that figure is accurate but I know for sure that now that when Guyanese are working for $72,000 offshore 28 days 12 hour shifts, a foreigner is getting nearly $2M, $10,000 US for the same sort of work and that is not right and the PPP\C will change that,” he stated.

Jagdeo was basing his comments on the highly-discredited Global Witness report. Jagdeo further noted, that under a PPP/C government, no foreign entity will trump Guyana for its own resources, “no foreign company under the PPP will come and take advantage of us, this oil belongs to all of our people, it must be spent in Georgetown, right here in Enterprise, in Paramakatoi, wherever our people live they must see their lives improve because the oil belongs to us.”

He added that, all of the surplus from the oil and gas sector must not go to the foreign company, because there is more need for jobs, better education, and better healthcare facilities and also for infrastructural development. “The oil belongs to us, all of it can’t go to the foreign companies, our people have to get more jobs, they have to get more income from this sector, we have to spend this money on education, on the best quality healthcare for our people, fix the streets and street lights …that is how we need to utilise our resources and not get them into the pockets of corrupt cronies,” he stated.

Despite Jagdeo’s criticisms, Norway-based Rystad Energy, said by the year 2030, Guyana’s total annual oil revenues can approach $30B within 10 years and could send the country’s GDP “skyrocketing.” One day after watchdog body, Global Witness, said Guyana stood to lose US$55B from the 2016 negotiations on the Production Sharing Agreement on the Stabroek Block, Rystad Energy said that the average government take for Guyana is around 60 per cent in the range of mature producer, Brazil.

The research firm stated that with a population of around 80,000, Guyana’s economic fortunes are poised for a major transformation after its first oil development commenced production just six weeks ago. Rystad Energy added that,” offshore oil production is expected to grow rapidly in the years to come and will generate unprecedented revenues for the Guyana Government.” “Since the initial discovery in 2015 of the giant Liza oil field in the prolific Stabroek Block, Guyana has discovered more than eight billion barrels of oil resources,” Sonya Boodoo, Vice-President of Upstream Research at Rystad Energy, said.
Boodoo said that with Liza field being on stream as of December 2019 and more development in other fields, the country’s rising oil revenues will make a huge difference in the continued development of the country. She said that in order for Guyana to realise the full potential of these resources, a stable regulatory and fiscal environment will be a key factor. The firm forecasts that Guyana’s oil production could reach 1.2 million barrels per day by the end of the decade, lifting total annual oil revenues to about $28B, assuming an oil price of about $65 per barrel.

According to Rystad Energy, while government income is projected at a mere $270M in 2020, this, “is forecast to grow rapidly and could reach nearly $10B annually within a decade.” The firm explained that Guyana’s gross domestic product (GDP) currently stands at about $3.7B. Between 2015 and 2019, oil and gas companies invested around $8.1B in exploration and development activities in Guyana’s offshore sector. It was noted that under the country’s fiscal regime, these companies assume all risks during the exploration phase, which explains the negative free-cash flow (FCF) seen thus far. In future, the firm said, these costs – including both investments and operational expenses – will grow as new development projects are approved and new fields are brought on stream. “At the peak, the annual costs are expected to reach around $8B.”

CRIMINALISE
Meanwhile, Jagdeo repeated that in order to promote transparency in the oil and gas sector, a People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government will criminalise the non-disclosure of receipts from oil companies to the government, which will result in jail for the Minister of Finance.

“Any money coming from oil companies to the government, if it is not gazetted within three months and notified to the Parliament, then the minister of finance can go to jail for an extended period and that will be passed in legislation,” Jagdeo said. He continued: “That tells all Guyanese at the end of the year or any point in the year, we can know how much money we collected over the year from the oil companies and anything outside of that forces the political directorate or the people who are managing, including the minister, can go to jail for it.”

He urged his supporters not to be misled. “A lot of our people were misled and we cannot allow that to happen…we have the numbers to win the elections, but we can’t take it for granted we have to make sure that every single person turns out, we not taking anything for granted,” he stated.

He urged his supporters, both young and old, to go out on March 2 and exercise their constitutional right and vote. Jagdeo stated that although they may be bright in colours and numbers at political meetings and rallies, it is important that persons cast their ballot to ensure the re-instatement of a PPP/C government.