Introduction
By a strange coincidence, this 100th column features the 2021 financial statements of Esso Exploration and Production Limited, the designated Operator and holder of a 45% interest in the Stabroek Block under the 2016 Petroleum Agreement. Esso signed its first such agreement in 1999 with the PPP/C Government as a sole Contractor and a second in 2016 with the APNU+AFC Coalition with Hess (30%) and CNOOC (25%) as added Contractors. Esso holds the remaining 45%. These percentages do not, however, reflect the relative size and influence of the ultimate international parents of these branches. It is no accident that Steve Coll, chooses as the title of his seminal book on Exxon, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power. Its vast annual revenues exceed the economic activities of the great majority of countries and, with implications for Guyana, ExxonMobil’s sway over politics and security is often considered greater than that of the United States embassy in that country.
As we did last week in the review of Hess Exploration and Production Guyana Limited for which we did a brief review of its ultimate parent, we will comment briefly on some of the salient features of the annual report of ExxonMobil, the ultimate parent of the local branch operating in Guyana. Exxon is a giant compared with Hess. Here are some performance statistics.