Introduction
The Public and Government Affairs Advisor of ExxonMobil Ms. Janelle Persaud has disclosed to the press that its subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), has applied for its Petroleum Prospecting Licence for the Canje Block to be renewed. The Block was awarded to Mid-Atlantic Oil and Gas Inc. but it seems that not content with the 26,806 sq. km. awarded to it by Raphael Trotman, Exxon has decided to expand even further, showing it is, to use an old Guyanese word, “scraven”.
The PGA Advisor seems to lament that the Government has failed to act on the application four months after it was lodged on March 4, 2019. The Advisor must no doubt be aware that Ministerial responsibility for the petroleum now vests in the President in the absence of that portfolio being assigned to anyone else. If the law is being followed, Dr. Mark Bynoe has no statutory role or power in the extension of the Prospecting Licence and the relinquishment of blocks.