Although there are key outstanding questions on two cost recovery audits for the oil industry the Government of Guyana has advertised for a third for the period 2021 to 2023.
An advertisement in yesterday’s Stabroek News set out a series of requirements for the prospective auditor.
The auditing team must comprise persons who are transfer pricing specialists. There must also be cost accountants, crude oil valuation experts, certified fraud examiners, procurement and contracts experts, a partner who specializes in natural resources/risk management and a partner with expertise in cost recovery audits in the oil and gas industry.
The consultant as a firm or with partners must have completed at least three similar assignments during the past seven years. Team members should also have in-depth international expertise, local and regional knowledge, and access to benchmarking for comparable deep-water environments.
Proposals have to be submitted no later than 9 am on Tuesday, March 5th 2024 to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.
More than three months after the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) stated that the US$214.4 million in disputed ExxonMobil oil expenses, as identified by UK audit firm, IHS Markit, be accepted as the final figure, the oil company on February 6th, 2024 said that discussions were still being had on the way forward.
The IHS Markit audit of US$1.67b covered the period of 1999 to December of 2017 and has sparked several controversies. Though the government saw this report in 2021 it is still to be formally released to the public. The crux of the report is that US$214.4m was improperly claimed by the oil companies meaning that half of that amount should be credited to Guyana as profit. This is yet to be done.
Ramdihal, Haynes, Vitality Consulting, and Eclisar Financial & Professional (RHVE) audited cost oil of US$7.3b for the period 2017 to 2020 and the audit cycle is yet to be competed. Unofficial reports have said that this audit report found questionable expenditure of around US$100m.
