Thirty months after a key audit of ExxonMobil’s expenditure found that it improperly listed US$214m in expenses, the government on Thursday finally accepted the findings of the UK auditor and blame was shared for an apparent unauthorised attempt involving the American oil company to slash the disputed figure to as low as US$3m.
UK firm IHS Markit had been hired to do the first ever audit of expenses of ExxonMobil and its partners for the period 1999 to 2017 and up to April 2nd this year the report was kept hidden until Stabroek News published the details. In the six months that followed there were attempts by the government and ExxonMobil to cut the figure but that apparently ended when the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) wrote a damning letter to the Natural Resources Ministry saying that it wouldn’t challenge the US$214m figure and recommending that the audit be closed. That letter was also revealed by Stabroek News and appeared to have forced the government to close deliberations.
