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Django

October 2, 2020

Dear Editor,

There seems to be some confusion around what was actually approved with Payara in recent days, or what it means.

Simply, the approval of the Payara project (or development), which is the third project in the Stabroek Block, is not an oil agreement nor an improvement of an oil agreement, and does not improve the share of oil Guyana will receive from its own oil reservoirs.

We will still be losing about 55 billion US dollars, compared to what other countries typically get for this oil.

The widely criticized and unfair production sharing contract or agreement (PSC or PSA), which is between Guyana and ExxonMobil, is for the Stabroek Block. This is the oil agreement. This was signed by the PPP in 1999, and then renegotiated and signed again by the Coalition in 2016 (without any material improvements for Guyana).

The Stabroek Block covers a huge area of Guyana’s offshore territory which stretches from close to Venezuela to close to Suriname. You may recall the size of this oil block, or lease area, was criticized for being far too large (being comprised of 600 units instead of the legal requirement of 60 units).

The unfair oil contract covers all of the Stabroek Block, and Payara is a project within the Stabroek block. The Payara project covers a relatively small area within the block, as will all the other projects within the block (each covering an area not dissimilar to the footprint of Georgetown).

What the PPP government did recently was to “approve” the third project, Payara, in the Stabroek block. This approval allows ExxonMobil to start constructing the offshore facilities and start drilling the production wells for the Payara project. This approval comprised two main parts. The approval of the Field Development Plan (FDP) and the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Payara project.

You may recall the Coalition approved two previous projects in the Stabroek block, the Liza-1 project in 2017 and the Liza-2 project in 2019. There will likely be more projects to develop other oil reservoirs in the Stabroek block.

Talk of oil contracts or agreements concerns the Stabroek Block. And the need for a fair deal for Guyana concerns the need for a renegotiation of the contract for the Stabroek Block.

The recent approval of the Payara project by the PPP, without even trying to renegotiate the contract for the Stabroek block, and thereby without even trying to claw-back some of the 55 billion US dollars Guyana is forfeiting to ExxonMobil, is a very sad event for the people of Guyana.

Any concessions the PPP claim they “negotiated” or fixed for Payara, such as regards some environmental requirements, are frankly mundane items which should have been imposed on ExxonMobil anyway. And these “concessions” are immaterial compared to the real prize for Guyana, which is a renegotiation of the contract for the Stabroek Block.

Guyana was and still is in a very strong position with respect to ExxonMobil, and the PPP had a golden opportunity to force ExxonMobil to renegotiate the contract for the Stabroek block by withholding approval of the Payara project. But instead the PPP political elites decided to continue forfeiting 55 billion US dollars which belong to Guyana, and which other countries usually keep for their own people.

The PPP and Coalition political elites do not care about national development nor about improving the lives of Guyanese. They never cared. Why else did we remain a failed nation for the last 50 years, when we could easily have been the equivalent of a Singapore, a very prosperous nation.

And why? Why this complete dereliction of duty by our politicians? Why are they happy to give away our oil wealth for a fraction of its worth, and happy to let the people remain poor? It is because all these political elites and their friends in the private sector will become filthy rich, even as the people remain poor. And it is because the people of Guyana do not hold their politicians to account, and keep voting for parasitic governments that exploit their own people?

Yours faithfully,

Jan Mangal

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DjangoAdmin

Payara signing is proof of President’s fascination with saying the right thing but representing nothing

October 2 ,2020

Source

Dear Editor,

I follow the conclusion of Payara and arrive at this place. There was an inevitability to expectations. I sensed that matters would pan out in the normal manner. Well, they did again, which tells me, and those who think in this nation, that our prospects peter out when left to weak leaders.

When the PPP was in opposition it was all big talk about what should have been done with our oil, where the PNC failed (it did), and how much better it could and would have done. Big talk when in opposition requires the big walk of that big talk when in government. It was time for PPP leaders to deliver on all the big talk about oil in general, and Payara specifically. How it should have been used as leverage. How PPP leaders could have turned the tables on ExxonMobil and braced it against an unyielding wall that held it to ransom, instead of the company maintained its unrelenting stranglehold on us.

Give a wee bit more. Ease up on costs. Add some infrastructure and education and commercial (local content, not just for already comfortably aligned and set Guyanese Establishment presences) pluses that point to the promising that comes from genuine partnering. Together, be innovative on how to go around hard contract provisions and create some financial rooms for Guyana. Figure out ‘step-ups’ and sweeteners that make for billions in US dollars in add-ons and give Guyanese hope.

But instead of squeezing Exxon to get some of that, the Minister was keen and content in telling Guyanese to expect “trillions” in the future (SN, October 1). Trillions definitely have a resonance about them, but on what basis? A review of Payara that should have occupied many long months by well-qualified people, took a fraction of that time with less than the best representing Guyana’s interests? Whose interests took precedence when this sham of a review was conducted?

The president-relatively young in years, but as old as time in ways not constructive-has manifested before a facility with words that are fulsome but frail in output. He is about much talk but ‘maaagah deliverables. The Payara signing furnishes powerful proof of his fascination with saying the right thing but representing nothing. He and his sidekick had Exxon by the alleyway, but both failed at nailing it to the wall. They have done well with what must be satisfying to not just Exxon, but the US Ambassador and her bosses in Washington. No Guyanese should be unclear anymore about who is calling the shots in this beholden country.

Returning to the US Ambassador for a minute, I recognize a tireless worker for her country’s priorities, which is the way it should be. Where are our leaders doing the same for us? Her Excellency did speak of more visitors from the US coming here to register presence, interest, and partnership. Though it is not her place to provide specifics, I step forward to fill the breach and present clarity.

Those coming would include the likes of Bechtel and Schlumberger and the many other big money capitalists that drool uncontrollably over Guyana. They have plans for us and our oil. If PPP leaders are not up to the task to deal with Exxon, and clearly they were not, then they do not stand a ghost of a chance with the pirates and predators from Wall Street.

I will say this here and now: neither the president nor the Vice President nor the natural resources placeholder can hold their own with those swashbucklers. The Vice President is Guyana’s best bet, but only if he has Guyana’s best interests at heart. In my opinion that is one hell of a big if. So, we mosey on with more promises from politicians that rarely deliver (the PNC didn’t) and keep our fingers crossed. As for me, I see through them, don’t believe them, don’t trust them, big talk and all. And that includes every political presence in this town.

Last, I used to look at Nigeria and Iraq and even Venezuela and shake my head in disagreement at the futility of them all, especially the sectarian and grassroots upheavals. Not anymore! Not with leaders like those in the PPP and the PNC (which is serenely quiet and distant on oil), who deliver this country on a platter to those so demanding. This is how headless we are on oil.

Yours faithfully,

GHK Lall

10/2/201:25 PM

Ramakant-PSenior Member

The PPP did what they had to do. They are getting US$35 billion each year. The PNC coalition did nothing for Guyana. Jan Mangal and GHK Lall never criticize the Coalition for their failure to develop the country.

They seem to give advice to a Government that already has its' plans in the 2020 budget approved. They are just talking out of turn.

10/2/201:50 PM

DjangoAdmin

@Ramakant-P posted:
The PPP did what they had to do.
They are getting US$35 billion each year. The PNC coalition did nothing for Guyana. Jan Mangal and GHK Lall never criticize the Coalition for their failure to develop the country.
They seem to give advice to a Government that already has its' plans in the 2020 budget approved. They are just talking out of turn.

The PPP was preaching they can do better with oil negotiations ,turns out the sold out for power ,anyway that's known by many with the except their supporters.

10/2/202:23 PM

TotaramSenior Member

@Ramakant-P posted:
The PPP did what they had to do. They are getting US$35 billion each year. The PNC coalition did nothing for Guyana. Jan Mangal and GHK Lall never criticize the Coalition for their failure to develop the country.
They seem to give advice to a Government that already has its' plans in the 2020 budget approved. They are just talking out of turn.

No, they are not getting US$35 billion each year. Where did you get that figure?

10/2/202:30 PM

DjangoAdmin

@Totaram posted:
No, they are not getting US$35 billion each year. Where did you get that figure?

Rama ,pulling figures from all over the place to boost the PPP.

10/2/202:32 PM

MitwahSenior Member

@Ramakant-P posted:
The PPP did what they had to do. They are getting US$35 billion each year. The PNC coalition did nothing for Guyana.

Where did you get that figure of US$35 billion? What sort of meds are you on?

10/2/202:57 PM

DjangoAdmin

The PPP/C’s Grand Payara Betrayal

Oct 02, 2020 Front Page Comment

Source

Kaieteur News – Payara was a masquerade from the beginning. It was an elaborate dog and pony show.
Now that the licence is approved, all the government’s yapping and howling can cease.
The government has deceived the public by its submission to the will of ExxonMobil. What it promised the people, it did not deliver.
The PPP/C started out on the wrong foot with Payara. It picked the wrong persons to review the contract. The review of the Payara Field Development Plan has not been made public, yet the government has been hasty in inking the deal. It did not see it fit to even consult with the Guyanese people.
The PPP/C is already in overdrive trying to sell us false dreams about the trillions of dollars which we will earn as a result of this deal. They are, however, silent about the US$9B price tag which has to be paid by the people for this plan, and about their abysmal failure to negotiate any substantial improvement in benefits.
Payara was a lost opportunity. The PPP/C squandered the chance of righting past wrongs and rebalancing the oil agreements in the country’s favour.
Instead of the Treasury benefitting from a bonanza, all the people got were empty words.
Payara is a bitter pill for Guyanese. Their hopes have once again been dashed at the hands of their political leaders. It is time for the Guyanese people to let their leaders know how they feel about this grand betrayal.

10/2/206:23 PM

Ramakant-PSenior Member

An answer is only important if you ask the right question.

10/2/206:27 PM

TotaramSenior Member

@Ramakant-P posted:
The PPP did what they had to do. They are getting US$35 billion each year. The PNC coalition did nothing for Guyana. Jan Mangal and GHK Lall never criticize the Coalition for their failure to develop the country.
They seem to give advice to a Government that already has its' plans in the 2020 budget approved. They are just talking out of turn.

Ramakant misinterpreted this to mean US$35billion each year: “Nine billion dollars is the single largest investment in the history of Guyana. It is estimated, if oil per barrel is at US$50, we will get US$35 billion or $7.4 trillion over the life of the Payara. This is just Payara alone, so this is huge for this country. Our start up time for this project is aimed at 2024 and we are working to meet that [goal]… US$35 billion for a well? I would take that any day. We will work towards that any day,” he asserted.

In other words, if one were to accept Vickram Bharrat's assumptions the Government will get US$35 billion over the life of Payara. The life of Payara will be determined by the rate at which the oil is mined. Moreover, the price of oil is currently about US$40 and some analysts believe that it would not go above this ever again. So, there are a lot of assumptions and they will not necessarily materialize.

10/2/208:01 PM

TotaramSenior Member

@Ramakant-P posted:
The PPP did what they had to do. They are getting US$35 billion each year. The PNC coalition did nothing for Guyana. Jan Mangal and GHK Lall never criticize the Coalition for their failure to develop the country.
They seem to give advice to a Government that already has its' plans in the 2020 budget approved. They are just talking out of turn.

You are the one talking out of turn. Jan Mangal is a genuine expert on oil and gas.

10/2/208:12 PM

Ramakant-PSenior Member

@Totaram posted:
You are the one talking out of turn. Jan Mangal is a genuine expert on oil and gas.

It's not what he is, it's what he said. If he is an expert why is he on the outside looking in?

10/3/2010:14 AM

TotaramSenior Member

@Ramakant-P posted:
It's not what he is, it's what he said. If he is an expert why is he on the outside looking in?

Because some people have standards and dignity ..also, he doesn't need a job with Ali, Jagdeo or Granger. I believe he has a good life somewhere in Europe.

10/3/2010:56 AM

Ramakant-PSenior Member

@Totaram posted:
Because some people have standards and dignity ..also, he doesn't need a job with Ali, Jagdeo or Granger. I believe he has a good life somewhere in Europe.

If you are going to argue about it, then you shouldn't make suppositions, just state the facts. No conjectures. A professor should know better.

10/3/2011:19 AM

TotaramSenior Member

@Ramakant-P posted:
If you are going to argue about it, then you shouldn't make suppositions, just state the facts. No conjectures. A professor should know better.

I didn't know Jan Mangal is a professor. He is qualified to be one. With a doctorate from Oxford he is top of his field.

10/3/2011:24 AM

Ramakant-PSenior Member

@Totaram posted:
I didn't know Jan Mangal is a professor. He is qualified to be one. With a doctorate from Oxford he is top of his field.

I was talking about you!

10/3/2011:27 AM

TotaramSenior Member

@Ramakant-P posted:
I was talking about you!

Looku story hay....you tink me is a professor.?..maybe you think me is a professa because of all the lessons me teach you. bai na mek joke. me is a retired man enjoying life. you padna tink me a Totaram from woodstock an you tink me is professa. na wais allyou time trying to figure out who me is.....jes put forward you silly arguments so I could demolish them.

10/3/2011:49 AM

Ramakant-PSenior Member

@Totaram posted:
Looku story hay....you tink me is a professor.?..maybe you think me is a professa because of all the lessons me teach you. bai na mek joke. me is a retired man enjoying life. you padna tink me a Totaram from woodstock an you tink me is professa. na wais allyou time trying to figure out who me is.....jes put forward you silly arguments so I could demolish them.

Patwah Language is not my cup of tea.

10/3/204:48 PM

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Payara signing is proof of President’s fascination with saying the right thing but representing nothing

The PPP/C’s Grand Payara Betrayal

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