Category: The Road to First Oil

Introduction

During the recently-concluded United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA, the Guyana Delegation led by Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge facilitated a meeting between the Governor of the Bank of Guyana and representatives of Merrill Lynch, the investment arm of the Bank of America Corporation which had expressed an interest in Guyana’s proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund. It was not so much that Greenidge facilitated the meeting, or that Finance Minister Winston Jordan would most likely have also attended had his diary permitted, but rather the enthusiasm and expansiveness with which Greenidge subsequently reported on the meeting. Greenidge at a Press Conference on his return to Guyana, promoted the banker’s “variety of expertise in the setting up of such funds, and providing options for collaboration that they can offer.”

But Greenidge was not done yet. He touted Merrill Lynch’s capacity and extensive experience in the management of the equivalent of sovereign wealth funds, reminding the Guyanese media that Merrill Lynch was no stranger to Guyana and that when he was the minister of finance in a previous government, the investment division facilitated the Bank of Guyana and the Bank of America working together. Such gratuitous high level endorsement in an emerging oil economy must be anyone’s dream.

Yet, at home, Jordan and Co have crudely and blatantly refused to engage and listen to Guyanese’s concerns and recommendations on the petroleum contract as well as the Natural Resources Fund proposal. But yes, of course, Merrill Lynch is big, it is powerful and it has that colour for which we all seem to have a pronounced complex. Continue reading “Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded (Part 62)”

Introduction

In an advertisement appearing in the national media yesterday, the Ministry of Natural Resources, on its own behalf and that of the Government of Guyana, invited expressions of interest by Consultants desirous of providing services to the Project Execution Unit, presumably of the Ministry, to “conduct an audit of the Recoverable Contract Costs as called for in the signed Production Sharing Contract(s).” It also requires the successful person or Firm to provide on-the-job training to the staff of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) on cost recovery auditing, “with a particular focus on value for money.” Continue reading “Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded (Part 61)”

Introduction

Following last week’s call for a Commission of Inquiry into the Petroleum Sector, more than a handful of individuals approached me enquiring whether the call was serious and what would be the expected outcome. After the spate of Presidential Commissions of Inquiry out of which practically no action was taken, it is not surprising that many persons are cynical about another Commission of Inquiry (COI). My response to those persons was to ask whether they are satisfied about the controversy which surrounds this nascent but critical sector, which will soon dominate Guyana’s economy and indeed all aspects of life in Guyana in as little as ten years.

Nor can anyone be satisfied about the uncertainty surrounding any depletion policy and the rate of extraction of petroleum under the 2016 Petroleum Agreement signed with Esso, Hess and CNOOC. They must surely worry about the implications of the quadruplicating of the country’s petroleum reserves following further discoveries by the three and the nearly dozen or so other oil companies that have been issued with Prospecting Licences. Continue reading “Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded (Part 60)”

Introduction

It was good to see Dr. Mark Bynoe, Director/Head of the Department of Energy in the Ministry of the Presidency speaking publicly on the petroleum sector. While Minister Joseph Harmon has been assigned responsibility for the sector by President Granger, and will necessarily be answerable to the National Assembly, the day to day management and oversight of the sector seem now to fall squarely on Dr. Bynoe.

In an interview with the State-owned Guyana Chronicle published last Wednesday, Dr. Bynoe was cautious about any “revisiting, revising, [or] renegotiating” any petroleum agreement but in a masterpiece of officialese, assured the Chronicle that “we” will continue to engage deeply to ensure that value leakage is reduced wherever possible. Continue reading “Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded (Part 59)”

Introduction

Amid all the noise about audits and Memorandum of Understanding, it is understandable and not at all surprising that a letter to the editor might have received less attention than it would have otherwise deserved. I suggest to every reader of this column to go back to last Friday’s Stabroek News and read the letter published under the name of Mr. Stephon Gabriel, Communications Officer of the Ministry of Natural Resources. Last Saturday was of course more than six weeks after Gabriel’s Ministry had ceded responsibility for petroleum to the Department of Energy in the Ministry of the Presidency and the timing of the letter raises interesting questions.

That letter, which would no doubt have been cleared at the highest level of the Ministry, made the astounding revelation that the Ministry had been given the strict responsibility (emphasis added) of ensuring ‘first oil’ production by 2020. As if to emphasise the point, Gabriel reported that that was “the preeminent objective over the past three years”. Continue reading “Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded (Part 58)”