Dear Editor,
Mr. Raphael Trotman will probably go down in history as the government minister who signed the agreement for the worst petroleum deal ever inflicted on a sovereign state. Mr Jagdeo, (then Leader of the Opposition) correctly stated in Parliament on 21st December 2018, “Our incompetent Government trudged in there unprepared and stuck us with a contract that would harm us for decades into the future. They sold our patrimony …” Mr Trotman has now published a book, “From Destiny to Prosperity” sycophantically named after Esso’s Floating Production Storage Offloading vessels, one of which is the subject of a court case regarding unwanted gas. (We await a decision in this case from the Chief Justice (ag) following the hearing in May 2022. Yes, 2022.)
According to Kaieteur News, Mr. Trotman says in his book, “My own view is that no contract is inviolable, and therefore, it can be renegotiated.” Mr Trotman is entirely correct. As any law student knows, the parties to a contract can always agree to change it. There is no ‘sanctity of contract’ in Guyana’s law beyond the requirement to do in good faith what you have promised to do. Mr Trotman should have read the Petroleum Agreement 2016 (PA) before he signed it and before he wrote his book. If Mr. Trotman had read it at any time then he would know that Article 32.1 says: “Except as may be expressly provided herein, the Government shall not … require renegotiation of …. this Agreement without the prior written consent of Contractor.” The PA defines the Contractor as Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. (incorporated in Bahamas), Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. (incorporated in Cayman Islands) , and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Ltd. (incorporated in Barbados). These are offshore subsidiaries who exist to make money for their parent companies.
First question: How will the Government force these 3 companies to consent to renegotiate in order to give Guyana more money and take less money for themselves? Kaieteur News reports that Mr. Trotman says in his book that, “Undoubtedly, if Guyana, as a sovereign state wishes to renegotiate the contract to get ‘better’ terms, then I would support such an initiative.” Leaving aside for now that ‘wishing’ is not an ‘initiative’, second question: do people trust Mr Trotman with any aspect of renegotiation? The Government of Guyana has publicly opposed the court order which requires Esso to provide (among other things) an unlimited guarantee agreement from its parent ExxonMobil requiring ExxonMobil to indemnify the Government of Guyana against all environmental obligations of Esso and its Co-venturers. Third question: IF there was a renegotiation, do people believe that the Government would stand up for Guyana or give in to Esso? The answer would seem obvious.
Sincerely,
Melinda Janki
