Dear Editor,
I read in one of the dailies that the United States Ambassador Mr Perry Holloway had echoed the earlier statements by an official of Exxon Mobil, Guyana re “In terms of job creation, I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that while this significant oil find will create jobs in Guyana, it is offshore and there are no initial plans for refining the oil in Guyana”.
I have a few questions.
#1. What is meant by there are no initial plans; is there a specific time (number of years attached to this initial period)?
#2. Is this statement about the initial non establishment of a refinery in Guyana an official Government position or is it that the contract with Exxon Mobil stipulates that we cannot establish a refinery unless it is in association with Exxon Mobil?
If this is not the position I would like to suggest that we should be engaging entities in the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Norway, China, United States of America etc, etc with a view towards producing a preliminary pre-feasibility analysis and term sheet so as to determine if it makes economic sense for us to establish a refinery over the next 5 to 7 years starting from 2018; I would further like to suggest that ownership should involve the Government of Guyana, the local and international private sector and a Public Offering.
Yours faithfully,
Dunstan Barrow
