Though the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and its allies like to pretend that the terms of the Guyana-Exxon Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) was negotiated by the APNU+AFC Coalition, independent commenters and NGOs continue to point to the fact that the bulk of the Exxon contract was in fact negotiated in 1999 by the Janet Jagan – Bharrat Jagdeo administration.
Most recently, founding member of the NGO “Article 13”, Yog Mahadeo, has added his voice to help set the record straight. “… I will join a protest calling for renegotiation of oil contracts. Of the many reasons for my joining this protest, the following relates – Technical and financial aspects of the contracts predates APNU.” Mahadeo said in a Facebook post.
Not only does the terms of the contract predate the APNU+AFC government, it predates the formation of both the APNU and AFC themselves, which were formed in 2011 and 2005 respectively while the terms of the contract were negotiated in 1999.
Core aspects of the agreement including the production sharing model, the 50/50 production split, the agreement that Guyana would pay 50% of all costs, the lack of significant royalty and many more were all negotiated and signed by the Janet Jagan – Bharrat Jagdeo administration in 1999. Though the Coalition decided to respect the sanctity of the PPP era contract, many improvements were made when the contract was renewed in 2016. Including a 100% increase in the royalty from 1% to 2%.
The current agreement would see Guyana earn between 14.5% to 40% of total revenue, depending on what is the average market price for oil over the life of the oil fields.
More, In The Ring.
