Every Man, Woman and Child must become oil minded – Column 168
Introduction
Petroleum and gas and supporting services make up 94% of the Mining and Quarrying sector which in turn makes up 70% of Guyana’s economy. Since 2021, it has been primarily responsible for the spectacular growth that has earned Guyana the distinction of fastest growing economy in the world. Money from the oil fund (NRF) makes up exactly 50% of current revenues in 2025. It is acknowledged as the product of the most lopsided oil contract for the past several decades, measured by what the Government gets out of the sector compared with the blessings to the oil companies. All this while the private sector has a minimum wage of $60,000 per month, businesses complain about workers and foreign exchange and the poor complain about the cost of living.
Naturally, the Government wants to divert attention from its management of the sector and has pushed the opposition into arguing how the miniature cake is to be shared rather than how to fight for a bigger cake. It is an area on which the ruling party ought to be most vulnerable although some might argue that corruption is mightily serious.
Come Monday September 1, as voters go to the polls, they may not be aware that the sector offers the greatest opportunity to truly transform Guyana. This is perhaps the last best chance to have some say on whether Guyana should re-assert its sovereignty rights and power to exercise control over our vast petroleum resources. That choice is not limited to oil but to the direction of the nation. If left unchallenged, the PPP’s model of petroleum sector administration will be no better than its administration of GuySuCo. Undisturbed, this model will define the country’s future for decades. And that is why the coming elections matter so deeply.
Trusting Ali and Jagdeo
We all recall how much we trusted Irfaan Ali and Bharrat Jagdeo when they told us five years ago that they would review and renegotiate the 2016 Agreement as soon as they got back into power. The echo of their sounds had hardly receded before being replaced by the mantra “sanctity of contract”, national interest replaced by Exxon’s interest.
The response to every criticism, suggestion or recommendation is met with the same response, as though repetition could transform political deception into some constitutional principle. The PPP try to sell its 2021 Petroleum Activities Act as an antidote, without ever mentioning that the 2021 Act does not apply to the 2016 Agreement.
Therefore, the iniquities remain, even if the electorate is led to believe the problem has been solved. With every passing day, every election cycle, every success at the polls or in the courts, the chance of change becomes less. Every act of theirs, and of the Ministry of Natural Resources, is designed to favour Exxon and its partners while the people go after the crumbs.
The cost of the about turn
It is easier to see investments in roads, bridges, schools and physical, visible infrastructure than it is to see poverty and hardships. Only those who feel it know it. We need to do so much more than have large swathes of our population lament their state of poverty. A working-class government that truly cares would see it as a primary duty to say that we will not accept 14% for our depletable resources. It is the moral equivalent of the theft of our sovereignty. And the PPP/C is a willing accomplice.
Its capitulation to Exxon manifests in concrete actions that undermine Guyana’s sovereignty: allowing Exxon to build its Ogle headquarters without the required Presidential license for foreign land acquisition, issuing production licenses without any conditions, and defending an overly broad stability clause that freezes Guyana’s laws until 2056 rather than utilising the agreement’s own renegotiation provisions, as the previous Coalition government successfully did with royalty rates. Most troubling is the government’s refusal to establish an independent Petroleum Commission, leaving critical oversight in the hands of the same politicians who have betrayed our trust.
The last, best chance
The truth is simple: once these elections are done, the prospects for revisiting the 2016 Agreement will vanish. With each year, the unfairness will harden, and the legal and financial entanglements will grow more difficult to unwind.
That is why these elections must be understood as the last, best chance for Guyanese to demand action. A new mandate is the only leverage strong enough to force a government to put sovereignty above sanctity – and to borrow from Sir Jock Campbell- the people before Exxon’s profits.
Conclusion
This election is not an ordinary contest of parties and personalities. It is a referendum on the PPP’s management of the sector. This column argues that more than even oil, but because of it, sovereignty itself is on the ballot.