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Critics say this power imbalance is clear in the 2016 contract Guyana signed with Exxon. Under the agreement, Exxon keeps 75% of everything it makes from its oil operations in Guyana, with the remaining 25% shared equally between the company and the government, which also takes a 2% royalty.
lido
gIt was a bad deal,h Ali said in the BBC interview, but he has rejected the idea of unilaterally changing the agreement, which was signed by the previous government. He says the next contract with Exxon will be on different terms.
An Exxon spokesperson said the contract is gglobally competitive for countries at a similar stage of explorationh and said Guyana is averaging $1 billion a year in goil profits.h
Exxon has also faced a number of lawsuits over its potential environmental impact, many filed by Melinda Janki, a Guyanese international lawyer, who drafted the countryfs Environmental Protection Act back in the 1990s.
A big victory for Guyanafs people and environment came in 2023, when the court ruled Exxon should have unlimited liability for the costs of any oil spill. Exxon has since appealed the ruling and has posted a $2 billion guarantee while it awaits the appeal outcome.
Exxon said this commitment supplements gits robust balance sheets c and the insurance policies they already had in place.h Janki says this isnft enough. Offshore oil spills can be extremely expensive to deal with, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill cost nearly $70 billion to clean up.
The push and pull between those who say oil offers Guyana a brighter future and those who fear the industryfs impact will continue.
Exxon said itfs had a positive impact on the country, including employing more than 6,200 people, investing more than $2 billion with local Guyanese businesses since 2015 and spending more than $43 million on community projects.
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- 25/4/8(‰Î) 9:03 -
