Even though the government has announced that Guyana would be selling its share of the oil, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo believes that ExxonMobil should be given this task until elections are over. The former President said, at a press conference yesterday, that he has no confidence that the government would put together an agreement that would work in the best interest of the country.
The Opposition Leader said, “…Even if they start producing in December, by the time they get to full entitlement for a shipment, that would be in February and so you don’t need an agreement for the sale of the oil using a third party. You can easily say ‘Exxon sell the oil for the first month until after the elections.’ Don’t tie up arrangements with no third party.”
Jagdeo said that any third party selected should be through an open, competitive bidding process.
He said, “You need the best deal for the sale of our oil. And it must not be scrutinized by government alone that is why we will put in place an oversight mechanism that includes civil society…”
In the meantime, Guyana Standard has confirmed that the Energy Department is steaming ahead with the completion of a Crude Lifting Agreement with ExxonMobil and its partners which will outline when lifts would be done, among other things.
The Energy Department is also tying up contracts to hire an Oil and Gas Commercial Specialist and an Advisor for Crude Oil Logistics and Marketing to oversee the sale of Guyana’s oil.
