Contracts granted to Exxon’s associates: World Bank also breached its public disclosure rules – German NGO
With the blessings of the World Bank, two ExxonMobil affiliates were able to benefit from major contracts that will shape the policies and laws which Guyana’s regulators will use to keep oil in check.
ExxonMobil affiliate, Dr. Michael Warner
Trinidadian Local Content Expert and Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul
But since taking note of same, Urgewald, a German based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), has written to the Directors of the World Bank Group calling for an immediate investigation as it believes the institution’s conflict of interest laws are being violated.
In addition to this, Urgewald said that the World Bank’s procurement rules in relation to public disclosure are being trampled upon.
Expounding on this front, Urgewald recalled that it was in April 2019 that the financial institution gave the green-light for Guyana to get a US$20M loan to develop its capacity to manage the oil sector.
Part of the bank’s financial assistance targeted the drafting of new policies and laws, including the 2020 Local Content Policy and the revision of all Petroleum Taxation and Fiscal Regulations.
In this regard, the NGO noted that the coalition administration had announced that an oil consultant, Mr. Michael Warner, was hired with no-objection from the World Bank to finish the drafting of the new Local Content Policy which would apply to new oil projects’ requirements surrounding the participation of Guyanese labour, services and goods.
Urgewald also noted that the World Bank approved the hiring of the law firm, Hunton Andrews Kurth, for US$1.2 million to draft new petroleum laws for Guyana even though this very law firm has been representing ExxonMobil for some 40 years.
In both cases, Urgewald said it appears that the Bank’s Procurement Regulations which requires public disclosure of all rejected bidders and proposals have not been followed.
Indeed, neither the World Bank nor the Energy Department has declared locally, at any point, who were the rejected bidders or proposals at the time when the winners were announced.
Further to this, Urgewald said that these contracts were subject to the Bank’s prior review. As such, the Regulations require that the “Bank will arrange the publication on its external website of a conforming copy of the signed contract.”
None of these disclosures appears to have taken place, the NGO said.
Considering this line of behaviour, Urgewald categorically stated that the World Bank operation is contributing to mounting governance problems, including decreasing transparency, while on a mission to develop a new oil industry in Guyana.
It therefore called for all funds through the World Bank’s US$20M Guyana Petroleum Resource Governance and Management Project be halted until the foregoing matters are addressed.
Urgewald is a non-profit environmental and human rights organization that is based in Sassenberg, a small town in western Germany. It also runs an office in Berlin.
For 25 years, Urgewald has been fighting against environmental destruction and for the rights of people harmed by corporate profit interests. It has since evolved from a small group of people to a powerful organization.