Country left to deal with consequences of APNU+AFC granting one-year extension to Exxon – GS Jagdeo

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said the current government now has to deal with the consequences of the one-year extension for the Petroleum Prospecting Licence granted to Exxon by the former APNU+AFC Administration. 

Dr Jagdeo made the statement during a press conference at Freedom House on Thursday.

It was recently discovered that former President David Granger granted a one-year extension in 2020 to continue exploration in the Stabroek, Kaieteur, and Canje blocks to Exxon’s local subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Limited (EEPGL), due to constraints posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The opposition had argued that 20 per cent of the block should have been relinquished this year, as per the agreement.

Dr Jagdeo explained, “The extension of one year that Granger gave had consequences in that it shifted the provisions of the prospecting licence by one year forward. So, 2019 was the first renewal period, 2023 was the second renewal period, when they had to give up 20 per cent of the block. But, because they had the one-year extension on the prospecting licence, the second renewal period was shifted to 2024.”

The general secretary also questioned the timing of this approval, especially in the midst of political turmoil, as Guyana struggled to maintain its democratic integrity.

 “Why did he have to do this eight days before President Ali was sworn in, and almost five months after he had lost the elections? What was the urgency of doing this eight days before the swearing-in of President Ali?

“The one-year extension would only affect the prospecting licence when the second renewal period comes up, and they have to relinquish 20 per cent of the block,” the GS said.  

Recently, the Ministry of Natural Resources released the signed letters sent by former President David Granger to the then president of EEPGL, Alistair Routledge, granting the extension for the Petroleum Prospecting Licence, and providing that ‘the days beginning on March 11, 2020 and ending on March 10, 2021 are not counted in assessing elapsed time applicable’ to the licences.

According to the release, the 2020 Annual Work Programme and Budget (AWPB) received approval in 2019 during the APNU+AFC’s tenure in office, and the ‘extension was facilitated during the pandemic’s nascent stages, a time when its eventual magnitude and repercussions were uncertain.’

Contrastingly, the release made it clear that the PPP/C Government refrained from endorsing force majeure extension for both the Canje and Kaieteur Blocks.