The Ministry of Natural Resources takes this opportunity to respond to the latest iteration of lies and misrepresentations from the opposition entity, Kaieteur News.
The newspaper’s lead article of September 3, 2024, is headlined ‘Guyana in the dark on how much oil is being deducted by Exxon for its operations – Int’l lawyer says matter is of serious concern’. It quotes Melinda Janki as saying “The Petroleum Agreement says that Exxon, Hess and CNOOC can take as much oil as they need for the operations.”
This is a blatant and unfortunate misrepresentation of the facts. Article 11.9 of the Petroleum Agreement states “The Contractor shall have the right to use in any Petroleum Operations as much of the production as may reasonably be required by it therefor and the quantities so used or lost shall be excluded from any calculations of Cost Oil and/or Cost Gas and Profit Oil and/or Profit Gas entitlement.” These provisions are aligned with international best practices and transparency standards.
It is common knowledge that crude oil, which ExxonMobil extracts offshore Guyana, cannot be used for fuel in its natural, unrefined form. It must be refined into fuel products. Presently, there are no refining operations in Guyana for the crude oil produced offshore. The crude is exported to international markets where it is refined into various petroleum products.
The ‘production’ for use in offshore operations, as referenced in the Agreement, is not crude oil but natural gas. Most of the natural gas extracted offshore is reinjected, while a portion is processed, removing impurities, so that it is useful as fuel.
Kaieteur News answers its own misinformation in the very article, by stating that the data on the Ministry of Natural Resources Petroleum Management Programme “provides an overview of gas injected, flared and used for fuel.” The government continues to place emphasis on transparency and accessibility regarding information about the sector.
This data, going back to the genesis of offshore oil production, is transparently reported on the Data Centre and can be accessed through the following link: https://petroleum.gov.gy/data-visualization?tid=206
That this article by Kaieteur News was not deemed defeated by the very facts it presents, speaks volumes about its fundamental misunderstandings regarding the oil and gas industry. It also demonstrates that the claims of its commentators are not subjected to a shred of scrutiny. Rather, the only litmus test these claims must pass, in the eyes of Kaieteur News, is that they portray the work of the Government of Guyana negatively.
The Ministry urges readers to reject such agenda-driven misrepresentations and demand truth from Kaieteur News. Going forward, if there is any level of confusion about the data that has been in the public for years, the Ministry stands ready to provide context and clarity. The Ministry will continue to ensure that the public is kept apprised of improvements to its monitoring and regulatory capabilities regarding the petroleum sector. The Ministry remains a transparent, accessible and responsible steward of Guyana’s oil and gas industry.