Former president Donald Ramotar is maintaining that he had no knowledge of ExxonMobil’s oil find in the Stabroek Block before the 2015 general elections and therefore his award of contracts to private companies shortly before should not be seen as questionable.
Ramotar’s denial comes in wake of former government advisor on petroleum Jan Mangal saying that an investigation should be launched into the awards of oil blocks near to ExxonMobil’s Stabroek Block shortly before the 2015 polls as he believes persons knew of the company’s oil find and acted to capitalise on securing nearby blocks.
“I was not given any other information, just a vague response about a week before the election, from Exxon. The impression I got was they were not ready to make the announcement because they were not clear but that it just looks good. They were not very explicit with me,” Ramotar told Sunday Stabroek when asked.
