As a result of the government’s failure to renegotiate the unjust ExxonMobil deal, billionaire Glenn Lall has branded Guyana’s meager US$219M oil income haul for the first quarter of this year as illegal.
The Natural Resource Fund (NRF) received inflows totaling G$45.7B (US$219.45 million) for the first quarter of 2023, according to information released by the Bank of Guyana last week. These inflows were made up of G$33.7B (US$161.86 million) from profit oil and G$12B (US$57.59 million) from royalties. According to the banking institution, this quarter’s profit oil and royalties were at lower levels than the G$105.8B (US$507.64 million) and G$13.9B (US$66.95 million) and G$13.9B, respectively, for the previous quarter. The Natural Resource Fund account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York received this money as a deposit. The Fund has received G$408.9B (US$1,961.25 million) from 24 lifts of profit oil since its formation, as well as G$57.9B (US$277.66 million) in royalties.
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Speaking on the subject, Lall, who is also the publisher of the Kaieteur News, claimed that Guyana’s share of the first quarter earnings was so abhorrent that the Bank of Guyana instead of President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced the amount.“Do the math yourself – 400,000 barrels pumping every day, multiply that by US$80 is US$32M a day, multiply that by the 90 days, January to March it comes up to US$2.88 billion. And out of that, Guyana received US$219M in royalties and profits.”
Lall said: “So, 2B 661MUSD of our oil left Guyana and we only received US$219M in 3 months.” He added that when ExxonMobil begins to pump oil in Liza 3 and 4, wells, Guyana will receive about the same amount “and that is what Jagdeo says the government has to run like a business and not like a cake shop.”
“Them shame to tell Guyana what the oil companies are doing to us, and in the same breath both President Ali and Jagdeo going to approve the 5th project with those same terms and conditions, giving the oil companies more leeway to further rob every Guyanese,” Lall noted.
Lall asserted that Guyana’s oil partnership with Exxon had turned into a “disease, a lethal poison to the leaders of this land, in all camps.” He pointed out that little to nothing has been spoken about the APNU/AFC since they signed that awful Exxon contract and resigned from power. “They selectively choose what they respond to, whenever the Kaieteur News and other media houses expose what’s going on in the oil sector. As for the present government, ever since Jagdeo put himself in charge of the oil sector, all you hear from him is about the 14 new oil blocks to come on stream, what and what Guyana will get out of them, if, yes if, oil is found in them, and keep on telling Guyana that the mistakes the Coalition made with the Exxon Stabroek Block deal, will not be repeated in these 14 new oil contracts. This has been Jagdeo’s mantra, every time he opens his mouth to talk about the oil sector.”
Mr. Lall questioned why Jagdeo was only making corrections and fixes for the “future uncertain” oil blocks and not working with Exxon to address the problems in the Stabroek block field, which has 600 oil blocks.
Lall explained, “Can you picture the Atlantic Ocean from Suriname to Venezuela border; the biggest chunk there is called the Stabroek Block and it has 600 oil blocks in it, not 14 blocks, 600 oil blocks and Jagdeo not correcting anything in that, why? You guys see what Jagdeo is doing with the blessing of the Opposition – selling out this country, all he keeps talking about is the 14 oil blocks that sit outside that huge chunk called the Stabroek Block, with no discovery as yet, we don’t know if those 14 got any oil in them, but every minute, every hour, every day whenever Jagdeo opens his mouth, he talks about that: Guyana will get 10% Tax, 10% Royalty, he will cap the Interest Rate, they will have to give us Insurance, but when it comes to the Stabroek Block with 600 oil blocks, Exxon getting a free pass to do whatever they want…”
