…as Gov’t yet to address nation on promised 50% oil profits
(Kaieteur News) – Since July 31, 2026 ExxonMobil announced to its shareholders that the company has recovered all of its investments made in Guyana to develop the seven projects approved to date – a significant development in the country’s petroleum sector that is yet to be addressed by the Government of Guyana (GoG).
Attorney and Chartered Accountant, Christopher Ram in a scathing commentary to this newspaper on the matter blasted the administration for its silence on such a key milestone in the nation’s oil story, describing it as an act of disgrace for government to leave citizens reliable on information supplied by a multinational corporation that has proven to be “less than straight and honest” in its dealings locally.
Ram has been a vocal advocate against the GoG for its appalling lack of transparency in the management of the oil and gas sector, leading a string of protests last year particularly against the Commissioner of Information, Charles Ramson (SC) whom he accused of guarding key information instead of making same available upon the request of citizens.
In an invited comment on the recovery of some US$55B in investment and operating expense by ExxonMobil, Ram said Guyana is now positioned to receive 50% of profit oil which is what is available after the deduction of recoverable expenses.
The Chartered Accountant was careful to point out, “This statement that Guyana will receive 50% of all oil produced is absolutely and verifiably misleading. It is also not consistent with the provisions of the contract.”
“How disgraceful it is that we have no less than a Vice President (Bharrat Jagdeo) and a cabinet minister responsible for the petroleum sector (Vickram Bharrat), and yet we have to rely on Exxon whose accounting has been less than straight and honest to provide us with information on the recovery of all their costs.” – Christopher Ram
Shifting his attention to the fact that the GoG is yet to address the nation on this issue, the lawyer argued, “How disgraceful it is that we have no less than a Vice President (Bharrat Jagdeo) and a cabinet Minister responsible for the petroleum sector (Vickram Bharrat), and yet we have to rely on Exxon whose accounting has been less than straight and honest to provide us with information on the recovery of all their costs.”
He added that Guyana must now wait to see what charges and provisions will now be concocted and invented to ensure the nation does not realise a larger share of profit from the agreement.
More than two weeks have now elapsed since the major announcement was made by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of Exxon, Darren Woods. During the company’s second quarter earnings call on July 31, 2026 the CEO described Guyana’s progress as a success story that has set a new standard for the industry, exceeding even the company’s expectations. Exxon said it expected the cost bank to be cleared in another two years. Woods however said, “Delivering on tight schedules, at industry-leading cost – with strong reliability and optimised production – has resulted in recovering our capital and cost nearly two years earlier than anticipated, increasing NPV, and desaturating the cost bank.”
On August 11, the Natural Resources minister told this newspaper that a statement would be issued by the GoG. Up to the time of this report, this commitment was not honoured.
Former Finance Minister, Winston Jordan previously told this newspaper that Guyana is now entitled to a larger share of the resources being generated offshore but instead of government providing full disclosure on what the recovery of Exxon’s investments means for the nation, citizens continue to be left in the dark while the opposition appears caught up in other matters.
Jordan explained, ““…in accordance with the PSA, profit should now be calculated in the usual manner, that is revenue minus all eligible expenditure, and shared in the same 50:50 split.”
He continued, “I’ve seen calculations where expenditure could go down to about 37% of revenues, which would leave 63% as profit to be shared equally between. That means GoG would be entitled to 31.5%+2% royalty = 33.5%.”
He pointed out that this would be more than double the 14.5% Guyana currently receives in profit along with the 2% royalty.
Moreover, he highlighted that this could result in the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) receiving between US$8-10 billion annually at current oil prices – up from the average US$2.7 billion.