Introduction
It has been several months since column 108. Yet, when I told a friend that I intended to publish approximately eight columns over the next few weeks, his immediate reaction was the question: what will you say that you have not addressed in the one hundred and eight columns and dozens of letters over the past four years? Not sure what my answer was.
More recently, I have penned letters in the press raising questions about the conduct of Esso, Hess and CNOOC, the three contractors of the Stabroek Block, as well as about their financial reporting. A specific concern I have are the amounts paid to Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) by Shell Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (2009 and 2011) and then by Hess and CNOOC (2014), and how these were accounted for by Esso Exploration and Production (Guyana) Limited, the Contractor under the 1999 Agreement. Until this is cleared up, there will always be concerns about the integrity and propriety of the accounting records of Esso (now ExxonMobil Exploration and Production (Guyana) Limited). My understanding is that those companies made payments to Esso abroad while the amounts paid might have found their way back to Guyana as costs in the local books via inter-company transactions. If this is so, and there are no consequences, then what’s the point of research and writing? I will persist, for the while.