I said a national oil company should not be pursued for at least five years

Dear Editor,

Regarding the article in SN dated 02-Jul-2018 titled: `National oil company for Guyana would be a disaster – Jan Mangal’

This article does not reflect the two posts on social media from which I believe they were based.

I made two posts on 28-Jun-2018 on the subject of national oil companies (NOC).

I said a NOC should not be pursued “for at least five years” and it would be a “disaster” if pursued now.

But the SN article makes no mention of my recommendation to consider a NOC in five years, hence it gives the impression that I am against NOCs altogether.  I am only against pursing a NOC now because we do not have the capacity, but I am all for a NOC in the future once we have the capacity (qualified and respected personnel, and strong institutions).

Your faithfully,

Jan Mangal