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Photo: Edwin Marin, deceased by Charles Gladden COROZAL TOWN, Wed. Oct. 16, 2024 Roughly two months after he was placed on a wanted list by police for...

Photo: King-Shakel Wade, deceased by Charles Gladden BELIZE CITY, Wed. Oct. 16, 2024 A six-year-old boy who fell into a canal at the corner of Fairweather Street...

Photo: Stake Bank BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 17, 2024 Appearing on a morning show on October 7, Prime Minister John Briceño stated that the world’s largest...

By Circles Robinson HAVANA TIMES – Hurricane Oscar quickly formed on Saturday above Haiti and the Dominican Republic and is moving on a west-southwest track,...

NASSAU, The Bahamas — Disaster Risk Managers at the Disaster Risk Management Authority along with meteorologists and forecasters at The Bahamas Department of Meteorology Saturday (October 19), advised residents...

ExxonM pumped US$14B in 9 months of 2024 but Guyana only gets US$1.9B Oct 20, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Guyana and its prolific Stabroek Block has often been described as the treasure chest for the oil and gas companies, unlocking US-billions in revenue while only a meager portion of that wealth is shared with the government. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo This was glaringly evident in the first nine months of 2024, as ExxonMobil, the operator of the Stabroek Block produced US$14B worth of oil, while Guyana only received US$1.9B of that revenue. The Natural Resource Fund (NRF) First Quarter Report for 2024 stated that for the period January 1 to March 31, 2024, total deposits were US$455.4M including US$391M in profits and US$63M in royalties. In the second quarter, deposits totaled US$778.6M inclusive of US$679.8M in profits and US$98.8M. Meanwhile, in the third quarter, the NRF received US$582.8M comprising US$481.7M profits and US$101M royalties. EMGL President, Alistair Routledge This means that the country received approximately US$1.9 billion during the first nine months of 2024. On the other hand, ExxonMobil and its partners recovered about US$10.5B in costs from the oil produced during the period. In keeping with the terms of the Petroleum Agreement, ExxonMobil also benefitted from 50% profits- US$1.5B. This means that the oil companies got US$12B while Guyana only received US$1.9B during the first nine months of 2024. It should be noted that Guyana continues to receive a paltry share from its oil resources as a result of the fiscal terms outlined in the 2016 Exxon deal. The country continues to hemorrhage more of its resources by failing to implement a ring-fencing provision. A ring-fencing provision would mandate each project to pay for itself. After the cost of the project has been repaid, Guyana is posed to receive 50% of the revenues generated at the project. This means that revenue flow to the NRF would significantly increase. In the absence of this key principle, ExxonMobil is free to use the revenues from these producing fields to fund projects that are yet to commence production or invest in its exploration activities across the Block. This year, Guyana could have been receiving 50% of revenues generated by the three projects in operation, since Exxon recovered US$19B at the end of December 2023- more than the combined cost of those projects. Liza One is pegged at US$3.5B while Liza Two costs another US$6B and the third project Payara carries a price tag of US$9B. Guyana has been urged by a number of institutions to ring-fence the Stabroek Block to ensure the country benefits early on from the revenues generated from the sector. The Government has however refused to implement this key provision, arguing that it could slow down the pace of development in the block. In fact, Vice President and Chief Policymaker for the sector, Bharrat Jagdeo had said at a press engagement on October 12, 2023 that the country could be left with nothing in the future should such a provision be implemented. He reasoned, “We admitted that we are foregoing revenue now in exchange for massive future income because it’s going into new projects that will increase production, and so even with the same share of the 50/50, plus the two percent royalty that the future income, because of the bigger scale will be massive in Guyana’s case and we are deliberately foregoing that in this period for that purpose and then trying to grab this bone now could cause you to lose all the bones, the bigger bones too in the future.” In the meantime, Suriname has made it clear that its first oil project will be ring-fenced to ensure its people enjoy its full share of revenues. Related Similar Articles

Jagdeo threatens to pull state ads. From K/News Oct 20, 2024 News …Newspaper will not be silenced on exposing mismanagement and corruption – Publisher Kaieteur News will not be silenced because of threats by the Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo to withdraw state advertisements from the media entity, Publisher Glenn Lall said on Friday during his radio programme aired on Kaieteur Radio. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo Lall was responding to repeated threats by the Vice President to withdraw the state advertisements from the newspaper. On Thursday, Jagdeo told reporters that he views Kaieteur News as a political entity and as a result the newspaper should be stripped of state advertisements or political party papers, such as the Mirror [The People’s Progressive Party] and New Nation [The Peoples National Congress Reform], should receive equal number of advertisements from the state as does Kaieteur News. The Vice President said that he intends to write President Irfaan Ali on the subject since he feels strongly about the matter. Businessman and Publisher of Kaieteur News, Glenn Lall. “So, I have not gotten the time to write the president as yet but I said as General Secretary of the party I have to write the president. They must get now the same amount of ads that the mirror gets from the government and New Nation from the PNC. So that’s what we want if you have a political…the head of your newspaper [Kaieteur News] is a political candidate who has declared his candidacy then he has to get the same amount of ads, or else it’s unfair the government is funding the lies and the political party which is Kaieteur News,” Jagdeo lamented. He continued: “So I gotta get the same thing or you gotta increase the Mirror’s ads. I want like all the ads. you see in Kaieteur News I gotta get it too for the Mirror. It’s either they cut and give to us…I would also urge Mr. Norton to apply for the same amount of ads. cause he’s eligible just as we are as political parties we get the same amount of equity.” Further, the Vice President said that the government cannot continue to fund the “lies” that are being published by a newspaper that is run by someone seeking political office. Kaieteur News will not be silenced Meanwhile, Lall is of the view that the Vice President is making every effort to silence Kaieteur News so that there would be less exposure of the levels of corruption in the country, particularly in the oil and gas sector. Notwithstanding the Vice President’s statements, Lall made it clear that his newspaper will not be bullied. He said the government can withdraw its advertisements but that will not deter the paper from exposing wrongdoings and corruption. “So, Jagdeo should know better to threaten me about pulling state ads. from the newspaper, he should know better.  Yes uncle, it will bring some pressure to maintaining the paper, but I will not roll over and change for $100M, or $100B in state ads. a day.  No way uncle, in life if you can’t stand for something, then you gon fall for anything and you end up being nothing, and my maker has not created me to be nothing, not then, not now, not ever – put that in your pipe and smoke it Jagdeo,” the businessman said. During Friday’s show, Lall told his listeners that he has known Vice President Jagdeo for over 30 years and “what I am seeing is a man who is degrading himself in every office he has held and holds presently.   He just can’t help himself, sliding from bad to worse. Honestly, Jagdeo is one of the main leaders responsible for where this country is today with the resources that Guyana has…” The businessman told his listeners that Jagdeo is uncomfortable with the number of serious questions posed by Kaieteur News reporters weekly at his press conferences. “Uncle, he can’t handle the newspaper exposing his schemes every day, where the nation is now seeing the kind of leader he is, so he is now resorting to blackmail.  Toe the line or get out the line – that’s his message. Report what he Jagdeo wants you to report or he will deal with you.  Follow the footsteps of the Chronicle, NCN and the other friendly media houses and you will stay in business with state ads., stand up and give the nation the facts, get ready for the punishment,” Lall stressed. The businessman made it clear that if exposing Jagdeo’s weakness and his fear to address ExxonMobil and the lopsided oil contract, exposing how foreigners are robbing the country of its natural resources, highlighting corruption, and reporting on the advice of international experts on the oil and gas sector [that the government is not heeding] is upsetting the Vice President, then he can do that which he feels is in the best interest of the country. Lall reminded of the era during Jagdeo’s presidency when Kaieteur News refused to publish advertisements sent by Jagdeo’s business associates and friends. “So Jagdeo should know better to threaten me about pulling state ads. from the newspaper, he should know better,” the Kaieteur News Publisher stated. Related Similar Articles