{"id":2926,"date":"2025-10-16T14:32:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T18:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/?p=2926"},"modified":"2025-10-16T14:33:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T18:33:00","slug":"the-mystery-of-the-receipts-and-the-certificates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/?p=2926","title":{"rendered":"The mystery of the receipts and the certificates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every man, woman and child must become oil minded (Part 170)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This column takes up from last week\u2019s discussion on the September 23 letter from US Senators Whitehouse, Van Hollen and Merkley to Exxon\u2019s Chairman, Darren Woods on tax credits claimed in his company\u2019s tax returns in the USA. As a reminder, that letter arose out of some sterling efforts and representation by OGGN, a US NGO formed to promote a better deal for Guyana from the Stabroek Block. In their letter, the senators requested that Woods, by October 23, show whether Exxon has in fact paid income taxes in Guyana under the 2016 Agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have since reviewed Hess\u2019 Standard Disclosure 4 filed in the USA. In it, Hess states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA portion of gross production from the Stabroek Block, separate from the joint venture partners\u2019 cost recovery and profit share entitlement, is used to satisfy the joint venture partners\u2019 income tax liability. Delivery of this production to the government in satisfaction of the joint venture partners\u2019 income tax liability is administered by ExxonMobil Guyana Ltd. as the operator and therefore is not included in this report as a payment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is not only gibberish. It is false and deliberately so. Hess and its accountants know how article 15.4 and 15.5 of the 2016 Petroleum Agreement are worded. Column 169 set out the process in a narrative chart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now comes Exxon itself. On September 26 Exxon filed its own Form SD with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. And there, in black and white, Exxon reports for Guyana in 2024 under a column Taxes US1,236.2 Mn.  Beneath the table appears Exxon\u2019s explanatory note:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProduction entitlement of 28,073,185 BBLs is valued at the realization price issued in the press by the Ministry of Natural Resources offset by EMNI Taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message which Exxon sought to convey is that it paid US$1,236 Mn in taxes to the Guyana Revenue Authority in 2024. It is public knowledge that no such money was taken out from the NRF and that there is no payment of that amount into the GRA\/Consolidated Fund. This shifts the onus to the GRA and the Minister of Natural Resources who is required by the Agreement to pay the money to the GRA on behalf of the Exxon. Neither the Government, the Minister of Natural Resources nor government appointee Charles Ramson Snr., Commissioner of Information, has provided any information that could settle this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provide the proof<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the money was actually paid, Guyana should be able to produce proof instantly. But if not, there seems to be a grand conspiracy in which Exxon has made a misleading, or false statement in a statutory SEC filing. Maybe OGGN should take this matter one step further: Make a complaint to the SEC for false or misleading information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To sum up then, there is not one but three alternative facts, a feat which not even Kellyanne Conway could achieve. Here they are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hess, with its incoherent, mythical talk of gross production and operator administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exxon, with its \u201cTaxes\u201d column showing US$1,236 Mn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government of Guyana, with its silence over certificates issued in its name for money never received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gibberish at Hess\u2019 level in a public document signed by an official cannot be dismissed as ignorance. It is distortion. A billion-dollar column presented to the SEC by Exxon cannot be brushed aside. The non-description other than \u201cTaxes\u201d is no oversight. It is deliberate ambiguity designed to mislead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silence is not an option for Guyana when there is a formal request under the Access to Information Act.  It constitutes concealment, evasion in public office and a breach of a statutory duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t cry for Exxon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The senators have given Exxon one month to provide the information. They also showed both prescience and frankness in their letter to Darren Woods. We should, however, manage our expectations. Three senators writing on their own, however senior, do not possess the authority of a Senate committee. Their letter to Darren Woods is not a subpoena. Exxon is therefore not legally compelled to respond in the way it would be to a congressional committee. But that does not mean the letter is without weight. Failure by Exxon to respond would entitle the senators to draw their own conclusions \u2013 and to say publicly that the company cannot produce proof of payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hope for Guyana<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil society in Guyana needs to take the lead from OGGN. Its members have no real skin in the game. We have seen in President Ali\u2019s statement on the troubling foreign exchange situation in Guyana. If he reflects for one minute only, he will realise that his failure to \u201creview and renegotiate\u201d is a major cause of that situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) and its leader Azruddin Mohamed can take the example of the three senators. They can play a leading role and earn further success in addressing what is the most significant economic issue facing Guyana. This is not a cause from which patriotic Guyanese should shirk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senators have asked for proof. Hess has provided gibberish. Exxon has provided a column.  Guyana has provided silence. On October 23, Darren Woods must answer. And when he does, there will be two simple questions for Guyana: Were receipts issued by the GRA? And who issued the certificates to Exxon and Hess?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every man, woman and child must become oil minded (Part 170) Introduction This column takes up from last week\u2019s discussion on the September 23 letter from US Senators Whitehouse, Van Hollen and Merkley to Exxon\u2019s Chairman, Darren Woods on tax credits claimed in his company\u2019s tax returns in the USA. As a reminder, that letter … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The mystery of the receipts and the certificates”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[288],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-road-to-first-oil"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3L0nt-Lc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2926"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2927,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2926\/revisions\/2927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chrisram.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}