Facing criticism from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) that obtaining pre-commercial production payments from oil company ExxonMobil can foster corruption, Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman yesterday denied that he said that government plans to ask for upfront payments but his comments prove otherwise.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of the Presidency said that Trotman “is refuting claims carried in an online media report that Government plans to ask US oil company ExxonMobil for upfront payments ahead of the commercial production of oil here.” Referring to a Demerara Waves report headlined ‘Guyana wants ExxonMobil to front-load some oil profits for major projects,’ Trotman, according to the release, said the assertions carried in the report are “false as it was never directly communicated that Government had asked the company or intends to ask the company for advances.”
Stabroek News carried a similar report in Saturday’s edition headlined: `Gov’t to seek advance payments from
