Guyana’s Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, voiced apprehensions during a press conference on Thursday over the possible misappropriation of revenues from the Stabroek Block by ExxonMobil for the development of the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks. Emphasizing the gravity of the situation, Jagdeo declared, “By law, they are not supposed to do this.”
The official also underscored the need for verification and audits, noting that “…you can’t just believe in them saying (they didn’t or) we got assurances from them.”
Jagdeo also noted the complexity of monitoring human resources which are dedicated to the Stabroek Block. “There is a division over how many man-hours or what people are working on. If they bring one technical guy, and he’s working on Stabroek Block, but he does something for the Kaieteur Block, they may put all of the data on the Stabroek Block,” he explained.
To address this, the Vice President stressed the importance of meticulous auditing. “We now have to see if he spent 10 man-hours on the Kaieteur or they accord that—they deduct that cost and put it on the Kaieteur block. So that is something you don’t just listen to assurances. You have to verify every single time you do an audit. That is the purpose of an audit. It’s verification to keep people honest.”
Jagdeo stated that two audits have already been conducted on Exxon’s spending and use of resources, adding that the next audit, slated to commence next year will scrutinize Exxon’s spending from 2021-2023.
The first audit marked the initial examination of cost claims by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (formerly known as Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited) for the pre-production period. Despite some delays, this audit has been successfully executed and focused on scrutinizing ExxonMobil’s expenses, amounting to US$1.6 billion between 1999 and 2017.
The audit initiated in 2022, covered the oil company’s US$7.3 billion expenditure from 2018 to 2020.
Only the years 2021 to 2023 remain to be audited. Jagdeo said the upcoming audit period will serve as a crucial examination of ExxonMobil’s operations, with a focus on ensuring compliance and preventing the unauthorized use of resources from the Stabroek Block.
