Dear Editor,
The times really don’t change, and now it is history straining at the collar to repeat itself. Today it is Exxon and Chevron. In the 80s, it was Pennzoil and Texaco. Just like then, it is about who could do what, and who shouldn’t have done what they did. The players are different but, in the freewheeling oil business, the egos are even bigger than before. It comes down to this: who could spray the ground the farthest. During the dogfight that was Pennzoil v. Texaco, I was a green newcomer in a sea of Wall Street blue. In the middle of the battle of Texaco versus Pennzoil that raged from Delaware to DC to downhome in good ole boy country Texas, there was another American legend: Getty Oil. It is a family best whispered in hushed tones. Today, in what is shaping up to be Exxon v. Chevron, there is the Hess Corporation, and the Hess family. I do miss Uncle John Hess (he would have already bragged about how many billions of barrels of new oil have been found). Forget about Exxon chief propagandist and apologist, the Hon. Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and his spiel about priority and focus, and the constraints of time, Uncle John would have found the time and place to let loose.
So here we are, with Exxon and Chevron about to do battle for a piece of Guyana, like the Greeks and Trojans over Helen, but this one has a strange twist: America’s Exxon has China’s CNOOC as an ally. Is the world coming to an end? Is this a thaw in Sino-Yankee relations? The commerce of oil certainly takes precedence over the wargames of State and Defense. Pardon me for forgetting the White House, but that is only when President Biden remembers that it is the 21st century, and that he is not George Washington. It was Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) who said that ‘greed is good.’ Right on! Brother. It looks that Chief Darren Woods heard him all the way in Spring, Texas. Why share the wealth of Guyana with a competitor? It does not matter that Chevron and CEO Steven Wirth are as American as God, mother, country, and apple pie. To those who object to God named first, apologies. Here is the last analysis, one that needs neither charts nor graphs: Guyana’s oilfields are too sweet, too rich, too lusciously delicious to share even with another American oil giant. What, and dilute the spoils? The oil business is not for missionaries, and the likes of Darren Woods (sorry, Mistah Woods) do not welcome strangers, take no prisoners. Even when a descendant of the old Standard Oil is involved. Fraternity loses to money.
Here is a hard truth for fellow citizens to weigh: if Exxon could be gearing up for war against a fellow American corporate hustler, then what it would not to do to poor coloured Guyanese. Here is another hard, bitter bite: if moves are in the making to crush Chevron, then what about poor ole Dr. Irfaan Ali, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, and so that he doesn’t feel slighted, I throw Dr. Aubrey Norton headfirst into the mix. When I call Exxon a voracious predator, many folks think that it is too harsh. I wrestle with which word is found offensive – voracious or predator. For the doubtful, the expense for a ticket on American Airlines to Texas could be saved. For there is Exxon’s resident lead headhunter in technicolor pointing to neon billboards, and how good the company of John D. Rockefeller has been to Guyanese. Perhaps living on their knees on new roads, and dragging their behinds across modern bridges, meets Exxon’s definition of what is good. Yeah, God created the world, and it was he himself who said it was good (refer to Genesis in the Old Testament). Now check what has happened since then, with Exxon now fully in command in Guyana, while President Ali still believes in the mirage that it is he who is the magnificent one.
Today, Exxon controls all of Guyana, but there is still a nagging issue that sticks like a chicken foot bone in its throat. There are dem Chinese. Remember I said this in 2024: Exxon wants the whole show, lock, stock, and block. Ignore all the noise, it already owns Guyana’s executive, owns Guyana’s legislature, owns Guyana’s tribunes (enough of them), and it has its heart set on owning all the Stabroek Block. Mr. CNOOC (Xi Jinping) had better look out, for the master maneuverer, Mr. Woods is lining up for the next kill. Today, China is America’s Exxon ally against another American. Tomorrow it is going to be a different story. Guyana is part of the credits when the motion picture is over.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
