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by Charles Gladden BELIZE CITY, Wed. Oct. 9, 2024 The Department of the Environment (DOE), which falls under the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Climate Change,...

Photo: Gustavo Cardenas, charged by Charles Gladden ORANGE WALK, Tues. Oct. 7, 2024 Gustavo Cardenas, 53, a Belizean businessman/farmer of Douglas Village, Orange Walk District, has been...

‘Guyana’s 2% royalty make up for taxes not paid by ExxonMobil’- Former Pres. Sam Hinds Oct 13, 2024 News …says when prices are high, royalty and profits give Guyana more than regular taxes Kaieteur News – After attracting criticisms for his first letter encouraging Guyanese to rejoice over the paltry proceeds from its oil resources, Former President and Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds in another missive has presented arguments defending the non-payment of taxes by American oil giant, ExxonMobil. Former President and PM and Guyana’s Ambassador to the US, Samuel Hinds In his 1300-words missive to the editor on Saturday, Hinds, Guyana’s Ambassador to the United States continued the discussion on Kaieteur News’ article ‘Guyana should have received US$10B from oil to date but only received US$4.4B’. He said it is likely that the money lost is related to taxes waived and the lack of ring-fencing. Hinds however noted that contracts usually make it explicit that royalties and other payments to the Government would be received in the place of taxes. “Firstly, when it is said that our government has to pay Exxon’s (the Consortium’s) taxes, our government does not have to take money from elsewhere to pay the taxes waived.  There is usually a paragraph in such agreements that say that royalties and other payments to the Government would be received in the place of taxes,” the Ambassador said. He therefore noted that it would be interesting to know whether Guyana is receiving more from its royalty and profit share than it would have gained from regular taxes. At the end of June 2024, the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) had a total of US$4.8B deposited, inclusive of profit and royalties. Between the same period however, Guyana lost almost the equivalent to what it gained. Over US$4.3B in taxes were lost during that time. It was reported that during the period 2019 to 2021 US$2.3B in taxes were lost; another US$540M in lost taxes were recorded in 2022 followed by US$1.5B in 2023. Recognizing that revenue from the sector is dependent on the market price for oil at the time, the former Prime Minister pointed out, “When prices are high, the royalty and profit share easily give us more than regular taxes; when prices are low taxes would have given more, but the operation might soon not be able to cover its costs and stay sustainable.” Guyana’s oil deal has often been criticized for its lopsided terms which highly favour the oil and gas companies. Instead of renegotiating the Exxon deal, the government of Guyana crafted a new Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) which will not apply to the Stabroek Block. Presently, Exxon pays a meager 2% royalty to Guyana and takes 75% of the monthly revenues to recover its investments. The remaining 25% is then split with Guyana as profits. Notably, Exxon and its sub-contractors enjoy the tax-free holiday offered by the government. It should be noted that neighbouring Suriname just signed its first oil deal, securing not only 6.25 % royalty and 36% taxes but a sliding scale profit scale which allows the country to benefit from higher oil prices. Related Similar Articles

ExxonMobil and Stabroek Block partners currently control $60B clean-up fund- Routledge Oct 13, 2024 News Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL), the operator of the oil-rich Stabroek Block and its Co-Venturers, Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited have deducted just over $60B to date for decommissioning activities. President, ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, Alistair Routledge The monies have been set aside in a fund which is controlled by the partners according to President and Country Manager of EMGL, Alistair Routledge. During the company’s third quarter media conference last Wednesday at Duke Street, Kingston, Georgetown, Routledge explained that at the end of 2023, $60B was deducted for decommissioning activities. Decommissioning refers to the clean-up and restoration of the environment, following oil and gas activities. It includes the safe disconnection of flowlines, plugging of wells and removal of the related infrastructure. In an invited comment, he told reporters, “To date, or at least year end 2023, $60B has been set aside on a cumulative basis for ultimately for decommissioning (and) site restoration. Currently, those funds are held independently by the three Stabroek Block Co-Venturers.” Concerns were previously raised by stakeholders regarding the oil companies being in control of the country’s decommissioning fund since petroleum companies have walked away from countries, dodging this key and costly exercise. Countries are then saddled with the bill to restore the environment after the companies swallowed up profits and disappear when it is time to decommission the projects. ExxonMobil currently has six sanctioned developments in the Stabroek Block. Guyana’s Parliament in 2023 approved the Petroleum Activities Act, repealing the outdated Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 1986. With regard to decommissioning, the Act now mandates that terms and conditions for governance of the fund and disbursement of payments shall be determined by the Minister and licensee. Prior to the passage of the legislation, the fund was strictly managed by the oil companies. Routledge said Exxon is fully aware that government would like to establish a separate decommissioning fund to ensure the money is available when needed, and for the intent that they were set aside. To this end, he noted, “We will be happy to work with the government on the establishing of those; what are the rules; ensuring that all the international best practices are applied to give that surety to people that indeed the funds are available when needed.” He said the money set aside so far is for projects in production. Presently, Liza One, Liza Two and Payara are producing approximately 645,000 barrels per day in the Stabroek Block. Meanwhile, in explaining how the decommissioning fund is calculated, Exxon’s Country Manager said, “The way the funds are accumulated is on a unit basis, based on production- so we take the estimated decommissioning cost which is always a moving target- based on technology and the latest expectations when that will happen, cost in the market and then its divided by the remaining amount of oil to be produced and then becomes a unit of production amount that is set aside.” He added that decommissioning funds are generally established in an independent manner since countries too can end up mismanaging the fund. “So generally, what happens with these funds is they are set up in some independent way because one of the things that we have seen in some countries is sometimes the funds are pulled early for other purposes, so for the security of the nation to know the funds are available you want to set it up independently with government oversight of course but ensuring that it’s in a secure place and its invested wisely in a low risk but gaining some form of return,” Routledge explained. Related Similar Articles

Minor charged with attempted murder remanded to juvenile holding centre Oct 13, 2024 News Kaieteur News – A 17-year-old hailing from East Bank Essequibo was charged with ‘Attempt to Commit Murder’ on Friday. The minor appeared before Magistrate Alisha George at the Leonora Magistrates’ Court to answer the charge. According to police, the act was committed on another 17-year-old on 3rd October 2024 at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, the perpetrator was not required to plead. The matter was adjourned until November 28, 2024 for continuation. Police said that the charges stemmed from an investigation they had conducted, which is the alleged wounding committed on another 17-year-old from Tuschen and the victim had claimed that the juvenile who was charged and another had stabbed him multiple times. During enquiries, it was discovered that the victim and the suspects are known to each other and on October 3rd 2024, around 22:00hrs, they were aboard a minibus. As the victim exited the vehicle, the suspects did the same and a chase began. The victim ran into a yard in Second Street, Tuschen New Scheme, and the suspects followed, dealing him several stabs about his body and subsequently escaping. He was picked up and rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he was examined by a doctor on duty and his condition was deemed as critical. He was transferred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he remains a patient. The second suspect, who was arrested and released on $200,000 bail, denied the allegations and his report was corroborated by the other suspect who was charged. However, the victim alleges that they both stabbed him. A file was sent for further legal advice. Related Similar Articles

Govt. to inject $10B to assist citizens who fall short with NIS contributions Oct 13, 2024 News Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana intends to inject some $10B into the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to assist person who have fallen short with their contributions over the years. The initiative which was announced on Thursday at parliament by President Irfaan Ali was taken on the basis that there are citizens who are having difficulties accessing the benefits they are entitled to. President Irfaan Ali The president told the Parliament that during their cross-country interactions “especially (with) the elderly, we thought it necessary that we must and should do more. This would allow contributors who would not have met the requirement to benefit from a cash injection that will support a better quality of living for them and allow them the opportunity of benefitting from their contribution.” In a subsequent press conference on Thursday at Freedom House Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo sought to provide further information and insight to the announcement. Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo. He disclosed that a conversation with a former minister of the previous administration he was informed that the man was still not able to access his pension due to the lax record keeping at the institution. The VP highlighted that this individual is among a large number of citizens who seen to be facing this issue. “So there’s a large number of Guyanese we have helped; we have worked with them, every outreach we have, we have tons of people who come and speak to us. People sometimes die and they can’t get their pension because (of) their contributions,” he said. Jagdeo further explained that, “They have to have 750 contributions to qualify for a pension and they claim they have worked they made the payment nut NIS doesn’t have it in the records or sometimes the NIS contributions were deducted by the employer but never transferred to the NIS, and so what has happened is that those people are not eligible for a pension and NIS pension.” Boasting that his government has raised the minimum wage pension for NIS, he said his government thought it unfair that there are persons who would have made contributions but still fell short of the 750 would not be able to benefit. “So what the president announced here is that we have set aside $10B to work on a formula to address people who fall below the threshold, to make them eligible to receive an NIS pension, but they would have made contributions over the years, large number of contributions and so this raise goes back a far way, public servants, sugar workers everyone,” he said. Furthermore “Over the course of the next few months, we will work out the exact formula how we will get some help to them. They would each receive a sum of money from the state for the contributions that they have made to NIS which doesn’t make them eligible because they fall short 0f the 750 contributions.” Related Similar Articles

E-gates installed at CJIA Oct 13, 2024 News The E-gates that are installed at (CJIA) Kaieteur News – E-gates have been installed at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Timehri, marking an upgrade in the airport’s passenger processing capabilities. According to a press statement issued by the official Facebook page of President Irfaan Ali on Saturday, the key features of this installment include autonomous immigration processing that performs security checks on passports worldwide; validation of chip passports according to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards, with future support for Guyana’s e-ID and facial recognition technology for identity verification using an advanced algorithm. “It is also integrated with the ABIS (Automated Biometric Identification System) system for real-time passenger updates, with automated checks for ED form correctness,” the statement highighted. Notably, it has the capacity to process six passengers simultaneously with oversight from a single officer. Considering the enhanced security measures, it will prevent unauthorised access and allow complete visibility for officers through glass panels. Additionally, the E-gates also feature a monitoring station for effective passenger flow management and automatic detention of watch listed individuals. “These improvements aim to reduce processing times and enhance overall airport efficiency significantly,” the statement added.   Related Similar Articles