Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton has accused the Government of Guyana of using Senior Petroleum Officer, Gopnauth Gossai as a scapegoat in the controversy surrounding an unauthorized meeting with officials of ExxonMobil where the company’s initial disputed cost recovery claim was drastically reduced.
He said that clearly there are corrupt activities and the controversy is a mere attempt to blame a public servant.
For readers who may be unaware, the ongoing controversy surrounds, ExxonMobil Guyana Limited’s Cost Recovery Audit for the period 1999 to 2017. UK firm, IHS Markit hired back in 2019, audited US$1.7B incurred by Exxon and its associates between 1999 and 2017 in the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana. Of that sum, auditors flagged US$214M as questionable spending.
The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) held the ultimate authority to determine the outcome of the audit and the Ministry of Natural Resources was tasked with overseeing the audit process in accordance with the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) and facilitating the exchange of information between relevant parties, including the GRA.
However, the situation took a turn when a member of the Ministry’s Petroleum Unit held an unauthorized meeting with Exxon and advised that the initial claim of USD$214,911,994 had been drastically reduced to USD$3,414,853.68. In a statement released yesterday, the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, revealed that it was Bobby Gossai who held the unauthorized engagement and acting on his advice, he wrote to the GRA on November 28, 2022, seeking their confirmation by requesting a “No Objection.”
Minister Bharrat said he assumed that this adjustment was made in collaboration with the GRA, given his prior correspondence with them. However, it became apparent that the GRA did not concur with this revised figure, and the initial claim of USD$214,911,994 remained unchanged.
Speaking to this Norton said, “This is dealing with what we will get as profits. That surely cannot be left to a public servant. It has to be the responsibility of the political government. The public servants give technical and other support so to blame Mr. Gossai is throwing him under the bus.”
He further accused the government of having an authoritarian rule and due to this, Gossai will not be able to speak the truth.
Nevertheless, the Minister has noted that Gossai, who had acted without the necessary authorization to engage with Exxon and had provided inadequate advice, is expected to face disciplinary measures.
Additionally, Bharrat said that the government is committed to implementing systems to prevent such lapses in the future.
Luckily, Gopnauth Gossai is an Indian, or else Norton would have been hollering “racism”, the rallying cry of sub-humans the world over.