(This is the fourth in a series of articles by Transparency Institute Guyana Inc on the Production Sharing Agreement signed between the Government of Guyana and Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.)
We continue our analysis of the arrangement with Exxon by looking at the claim that the Venezuelan belligerence was the justification for the selection of Esso/Exxon and that this belligerence constituted special circumstances under Section 13(3) of the Regulations made pursuant to the 1986 Petroleum act.
Both governments since the signing of these contracts have sought to represent the “special circumstances” required by the regulations to justify exceeding the maximum as the continued pressure exerted by Venezuela resulting in lack of interest on the part of oil companies. In order to understand this situation, we need a frame of reference starting in 1991. In November 1991, a conference was held at the University of Miami, Florida and proceedings were reported in a booklet titled “Guyana at the crossroads” (Watson & Craig, 1992).
