Government yesterday released the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed by the former Donald Ramotarled PPP/C administration with Canadian miner CGX Resources Inc, the terms of which appear to be almost identical to those of the much maligned 2016 agreement signed by the current administration with ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary and its partners.
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The 69-page document, which is comprised of 33 Articles, was signed by then president Ramotar on February 12th, 2013, and it appears to be an updated version that was clinched with CGX for its drilling operations, which began in 2000 but were interrupted by Surinamese gunboats. CGX has sunk several offshore wells but has not found oil in commercial quantities.
The 2016 ExxonMobil agreement appears to have been modelled after the 2013 CGX agreement. While there are key differences in profit sharing and royalty provisions, Articles addressing the stability of the agreement, relinquishment of areas and the extension of the agreement are nearly identical to the ExxonMobil PSA, which the opposition PPP/C has railed against. Up to last Thursday, Opposition Leader and PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo called the ExxonMobil PSA a “horrible and incompetently negotiated” agreement.