the award of oil blocks by the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) was described as nothing more than a “shakedown” by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.
“This is a shakedown… already one of the SARA members have asked for meeting abroad with one of the oil companies,” he said, during his Thursday (June 6, 2019) news conference.
Last week, Jagdeo made it clear that the PPP/C welcomes any investigation that is done by an independent and impartial international firm – not the politically tainted SARA. The Opposition Leader stated that there is clear evidence that the move to investigate the award of the oil blocks is political.
SARA Head, Professor Clive Thomas, in a May 22, 2019 Bloomberg report stated that aside from the Stabroek, Kaieteur and Canje which Exxon has control over, Orinduik block which Tullow Oil Plc signed up to explore in 2016 will also be investigated.
However, a contradictory position was proffered by SARA’s Deputy Head, Aubrey Retemeyer, said only the circumstances around the two agreements signed under the former PPP/C government would be investigated.
Retemeyer made this admission in a May 29, 2019 report published by the Associated Press, where he was quoted as saying: “Our focus is on Canje and Kaieteur Blocks and how those blocks were awarded.” Jagdeo also called out Retemeyer for his unfounded claims about oil blocks not being auctioned off.
Retemeyer was also quoted in the May 29, 2019 Associated Press report as saying: “They were handed the blocks without any public auction.” The Opposition Leader stressed that till today there is no policy by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government on whether the remaining oil blocks would be auctioned off or not – at a time when interest is high.
“The basin has been derisked now…before the oil find we did not have a lot of takers. When you have more blocks than interested parties you have to be a bit more generous…when you have more interested parties than available blocks, you auction competitively…that is how I see it,” he said.
He added, “Shell in 2014 gave up their stake for $1… we and limited expertise at GGMC should have known better that a major company with substantial technical expertise? It shows how tenuous the situation was…. you have to understand the mindset at the time the blocks were offered to the companies….there was high risk and not much interest.”
The Opposition Leader stressed that an unbiased, professional independent review will once more confirm all due legal processes were followed by the PPP/C time during its time in office.