When the APNU+AFC administration took office in 2015, its focus in the oil and gas sector was making preparations for production and not investigating the award of oil blocks by the previous government shortly before the elections, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman says.
“On coming into government, there was a general statement that we respected contracts entered into previously. In the meantime, SARA [the State Assets Recovery Agency] was established to probe instances of past misdeeds and so my focus was on preparations for production and getting the regulatory and legal framework in place,” Trotman, who previously had responsibility for the oil and gas sector, told Sunday Stabroek.
“I never received an instruction or guidance from the Cabinet or elsewhere to delve into any past agreements,” he added.
