Chartered accountant and attorney Christopher Ram has produced evidence that the controversial 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) had been amended in 2019 to make clear that ExxonMobil could not reclaim the 2% royalty due to Guyana.
While the PSA had catered for the 2% royalty to be paid to this country, the unamended agreement contained provisions that could have permitted ExxonMobil and partners to reclaim it.
On April 26, 2019, an addendum to the agreement was signed by then President David Granger proscribing the reclaiming of the 2% royalty. Both the former APNU+AFC government and the current one have upheld the sanctity of the 2016 PSA and have continuously argued that it cannot be amended. Ram’s contention as contained in his column on page 8 in today’s edition of Stabroek News is that the 2019 amendment paves the way for a fundamental reshaping of the 2016 PSA to right the injustices done to the country and the poor terms which had been imposed on Guyana.
Below are images of three key sections of the addendum that Ram obtained from the Deeds Registry: the heading, the actual amendment and part of the signature page.
