Yesterday’s historic visit to Guyana by the United States (US) Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has prompted a public frenzy of conspiracy theories, ranging from an impending invasion of neighbouring Venezuela to pressing the new Government on its hold-up of the Payara permit for American oil giant ExxonMobil.
But the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, this week, dismissed concerns that Mr Pompeo’s stopover is in any way tied to the processing of permits for the third well, saying that the multinational must meet the necessary requirements and environmental standards before any approval is granted. A second draft of terms should be completed around the same time that the high ranking official is here, but there will be no influence on that process, he added.