The 2016 renegotiation of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between government and ExxonMobil’s subsidiary benefitted both sides, according to the company’s Country Manager Rod Henson, who said that the oil major did not “strong arm” anyone and warned of the impact on investment if changes to the agreement are sought.
“We didn’t come in here and strong arm anyone…It was the government’s model contract and it was a good contract. It had objectives which now is bearing fruit,” Henson told Stabroek News in an exclusive interview.
With concerns now raised by government about the lack of ring-fencing provisions in the agreement, and continued criticisms of the 2 per cent royalty and $18 million signing bonus that was arrived at during the 2016 renegotiation, Henson says that pushing for another set of changes does not augur well for attracting investors here. He also indicated that the absence of ring-fencing provisions was positive for a frontier country like Guyana.
