Dear Editor,
IT’S quite hilarious to read excerpts from Raphael Trotman’s book, ‘From Destiny to Prosperity.’ He tried to absolve himself from any blame with regard to the ‘lopsided’ ExxonMobil contract.
After seven long years, he has realised that he must “correct someone else’s version of the truth.” As the chief expert Harvard negotiator, as the Minister of Natural Resources, as an experienced lawyer, he certainly took his time to “give my side, my context, and even my defence to the lies, half-truths, misunderstandings, misinformation and vile accusations that have been uttered.”

Mr Trotman provided two “lame-duck” excuses for his long overdue defence; he was advised not to get into “a gutter fight” and he finally realised that no contract is “inviolable.” This is quite funny when it is recalled that everyone at home and abroad lambasted him and he remained mum.

On February 4, 2020, an article in the Stabroek News captioned, “Trotman’s role in poor Exxon deal should be probed — Global Witness,” in which the UK-headquartered body stated that, “Trotman was treated to first-class travel, chauffeur-driven limousine rides, stayed at a pricey hotel and dined at the company’s exclusive Wolfgang Puck Restaurant at Exxon’s expense, at a time when negotiations for the deal were ongoing and ignored advice by experts.”

The question is: why did he ignore “expert advice that more financial information was needed before he signed the licence”? Moreover, Global Witness had stated that he “presented Exxon with feeble negotiation terms.”

Mr Trotman must have realised as an experienced lawyer that he lacked the capacity, competence and more, all the relevant information to negotiate with the oil giant before signing that Exxon deal which deprived Guyana of up to US$55 billion.

Furthermore, the report stated that Trotman “failed to capitalise on Guyana’s strong bargaining position,” and he should have awaited the assessment of the Stabroek Block’s true value which was one of [the] largest finds in recent times.

He signed the deal on June 27, 2016 and the find was announced on June 28. Trotman, as the subject minister, must be aware that this announcement was imminent and that would have strengthened his negotiating capacity.

It is basic that if you are entering into a negotiation for the sale of an asset, then you must know its value and what is the likely rate of return it is capable of generating.
However, it would seem that Trotman went to the Exxon negotiation with an already made-up mindset, since he reportedly told the media that: “I was authorised by Cabinet to travel, to sign etcetera.”

This would seem to suggest that the then Minister of Natural Resources and the Cabinet had agreed to accept Exxon’s terms even before the negotiation commenced, and this would suggest further that the coalition government was already aware of Exxon’s offer.

The negotiation was already done and the deal was agreed upon. Therefore, Trotman went to sign the deal, not negotiate it. This was confirmed by Global Witness, which stated that it has evidence that negotiations began on April 4 or 5, 2016, at the Exxon Headquarters, outside Houston, Texas, and 12 weeks later it was completed and signed by Trotman, on behalf of Guyana.
Is Trotman the sole architect and negotiator of the lopsided Exxon contract? It is clear that not only Trotman but the entire coalition’s Cabinet should be held accountable. It was not a one-man decision. Why the “banshee” cry now for renegotiation? Why lambaste the PPP/C government for a crime it did not commit?

Dr Jagdeo went at length to explain why the signed contract cannot be renegotiated, but it would seem that those words fell on deaf ears.

However, Mr Ramjattan provided the insight into the mindset of the coalition when they signed the Exxon contract. It was no mistake and it was no accident. This can be discerned by the statements he made.

He declared that the Exxon deal was the best deal for Guyana. He claimed that the World Bank and the IMF agreed that two per cent royalty and 50 per cent share of the profit is on par with the majority of countries where oil was found.

He further claimed that it is also nearly 60 per cent “government take” when all the other benefits are added.

Mr Ramjattan sees no reason for a renegotiation of that contract, since Guyana needs the money for its socio-economic development and listed some of these: infrastructural works, the Demerara Harbour Bridge, broad, asphaltic roads connecting every community, expansion of lands for agriculture and so on.

The PPP/C government has not disappointed Mr Ramjattan, since they are doing far more developmental work than what he had envisaged.

On the other hand, his AFC colleague, the mastermind behind the signing of the contract, now wants the contract to be renegotiated since it is “not inviolable” and is not the best deal for Guyana.

This is just another ploy to attack the PPP/C government. I used to hear about taking one’s mess and daubing it on another, but now I am witnessing this in action. Now Mr Trotman wants to sell himself as an expert negotiator who can renegotiate a better deal. He has had his opportunity and he failed. What is he now bringing to the negotiating table?

There is a band of miscreants who are bent on finding relevance by attacking this government as they had done in the past, but they are being exposed on a daily basis; some are open but some are more subtle. The coalition has had their opportunity and they squandered it.

Yours sincerely,
Haseef Yusuf