With the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) embarking on a probe of how two small companies without the capacity to drill for oil were able to lock down prime offshore acreage near to ExxonMobil’s key oil find days before the 2015 general elections, the spotlight will likely be on the key decision maker, then Minister of Natural Resources Robert Persaud.
More than a year ago, on March 25th, 2018, the Sunday Stabroek reported on the concerns about JHI and Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas Inc (MOGI) gaining access to the Canje block and later farming in big players like Total in what would be lucrative deals. Another company, Ratio also secured a deal.
While the APNU+AFC government had taken a hands off approach on these deals, the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) has begun to turn the heat up by announcing an investigation of the awards to the two companies based on whistleblower information.
