In the wake of government’s silence on its failure to audit over US$9.5 billion to date in post-contract expenses for Stabroek Block petroleum works, the Opposition APNU+AFC has taken to Parliament seeking answers and has asked for a copy of the US$460 million pre-contract audit report it had initiated.
In the name of Shadow Minister for the petroleum sector David Patterson, government is being asked a number of questions on why it abandoned the procurement process to find an auditor along with who made the decision to allow the audit to fall into default.
“Can the Minister confirm that the audit of ExxonMobil pre-contract costs of US$460 million was completed? If yes, can the Minister provide the Parliament with a copy of the Audit Report? Can the Minister confirm that Budget 2021 includes allocations for the costs for conducting audits on ExxonMobil post-2017 costs? If yes, kindly state the budgeted sums? Can the Minister provide this Parliament with the reason(s) to discontinue the tender evaluation for the auditors for ExxonMobil post-2017 expenses which totalled approximately US$9 billion?” Patterson asks of the Minister of Natural Resources.