IT was two hours and twenty-two minutes of a face-off about Guyana’s oil & gas industry in real-time. Glenn Lall had been looking forward to this long-awaited debate. The challenge was accepted by Jagdeo, and when the final bell rang, the decision was unambiguous. Glenn Lall could not sustain any of the claims he normally makes on his radio show, most of them repeated during the encounter with the Vice-President. At the end of it all, the only measure of indemnification Mr. Lall could muster was to declare – “I stand my ground”. But then again, there was no ground.

While Glenn Lall’s encounter with Vice President Jagdeo might be seen by some as an act of self-immolation, there are some real lessons to be learnt. Know what you are talking about, because while you may get away with misrepresentations and inaccuracies when there is no one to confront you, the house of cards will, sooner or later, crash and burn. On a more serious note, Lall’s incomplete knowledge of the oil & gas industry should be a wake-up-call to those who want to seriously comment on the current development path of Guyana. This is serious business, and mere access to social media, or the letter sections of Kaieteur News or Stabroek News won’t be enough.

The interview is now available on multiple platforms and if you have not watched it yet, I encourage you to look at it. Do keep in mind that Glenn Lall has been carrying out a sustained campaign against the oil & gas industry in Guyana, in its current structure and form. For those who do not have the time to watch the full thing, I note some of the most interesting parts below.

Perhaps the most egregious of Glenn Lall’s nescience, concerns the meaning of “real-time.” Some context is needed here. Lall has been raging against what he thinks are inflated or bogus oil costs, and this especially at the operational level. In simple language, he thinks Exxon is overcharging. Based off a question posed by a KN reporter at a press conference some time ago, Lall has been insisting on “real-time monitoring” of operations to ensure accuracy in billing. Jagdeo tried repeatedly to explain that the Government of Guyana (GoG) cannot do “real-time monitoring” because Guyana is not a part-owner or co-owner of EEPGL. The Vice-President also repeatedly explained that, as per contract, GoG can only audit the financials on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.

The real-time monitoring fiasco for Glenn Lall is actually the result of an even more consequential error for the Kaieteur News radio show host. Mr. Lall did not know that Guyana is not a co-owner of EEPGL. It appears that all this while, meaning during his endless campaign against the PPP/C, he assumed, in simple language, that Guyana owned half the oil industry. Doubtless, it is this elementary error that pushed him into insisting on “real-time monitoring.”

The stability clauses in the oil contracts were the basis for persistent haranguing by Glenn Lall. In this case, and in months gone by, Lall has been at his populist best by claiming to represent the Guyanese people against some imagined collusion between the PPP/C and the oil companies. His mantra is simple and has easily found favour with anyone who cares to emotionally vent against abstract domination. Facts and empirics are irrelevant. The mere rhetorical performance of anti-oppression is sufficient to establish credibility, groundedness, and legitimacy. Lall wants the oil contracts to be re-negotiated. Though a noble sentiment, we all know it can’t be done.

Vice-President Jagdeo explained to Glenn that the stability clauses in the contracts cannot be tinkered with because it would send a bad message to investors. That said, Guyana took significant redemptive steps to get more out of the existing contracts, most effectively so through the Local Content Act (2021). Jagdeo explained that more effective administration of the contracts have yielded, and will continue to yield, significant add-on benefits for the Guyanese people. Glenn Lall then suggested that the Local Content Act amounts to a kind of re-negotiated contract, and if this is so, why not go further. Again, VP Jagdeo tried his best with the KN host, but to no avail.

Lall thought he found a possible coup de grâce in announcements about so-called wind-fall taxes on oil & gas in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. The argument was, however, swiftly repelled. In this case, Vice President Jagdeo had to abandon the posture of an astute debater, and basically show Glenn Lall that Guyana has a fundamentally different tax regime with the oil companies operating here, compared to what obtains among the oil majors and governments in North America and Europe. Mr. Jagdeo could have also added that in the United States at least, oil companies are highly subsidised. In the case of the United States, the wind-fall tax, even if successfully levied, will end up being an exercise in financial circularity through a labyrinth of corporate tax loopholes.

Despite Glenn Lall’s incomplete familiarity with key aspects of the oil & gas industry in Guyana, the public learnt some valuable things. Two stand out. Firstly, despite their differences Mr. Lall and Vice- President were able to have a constructive discussion. This is how it should be. Lall is clearly a talented and effective media personality and should keep up his work, albeit with more accurate information. Second, and finally, the public can be assured that despite the structural power of the global oil majors, Guyana does have some significant human resources to manage the national patrimony. And, come to think about it, we witnessed this in “real time!”