Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman yesterday distanced himself from negotiating the modified ExxonMobil contract last year saying it was a team of professionals that conducted the discussions and even in hindsight his government is satisfied with the terms reached.
“I know there is a belief that Raphael Trotman sat in a room and negotiated this. I am a lawyer for 27 years standing, I have a Master’s Degree in which negotiations was one of the subjects I had to pass, I graduated with distinction and I have been trained as a negotiator and mediator by Harvard Law School, but I did not take it upon myself to do so,” Trotman said yesterday.
“The country in the past has relief on the technical staff of the GGMC…Mr Newell Dennison (Commissioner of GGMC) and his team were the principal negotiators (of the Exxon petroleum agreement),” he added.