Memo for Messrs. Woods, Routledge -UGGI Survey -Pt III

Memo for Messrs. Woods, Routledge -UGGI Survey -Pt III

THE 592 GUARDIAN ♦ OPINION

BY: GHK LALL

I’m the bearer of bad news for Mr. Darren Woods and Mr. Alistair Routledge, Exxon’s CEO and Guyana Country Head, respectively.

Wished it were different. No such luck. Must disappoint. I humbly refer them to the University of Guyana Green Institute Survey (UGGI) titled: Trust, Oil, and Building a Better Society.” The news is the worst that could be expected for foreign oil companies in Guyana. Due to its oversized height, its muscular presence in Guyana, Exxon stands foremost. I think “foreign oil companies” is a careful euphemism for Exxon.

Messrs. Woods, Routledge: Guyanese are not inspired by charity. Bats, hats, apparel, sponsorships, community enhancements, UG monies all qualify as charity. Cheap charity compared to real richness in a real 50:50 partner. I believe that Guyanese think, sense, they are being tricked and cheated. When foreign oil companies rank the lowest (2.50 out of 10) on the UGGI trust barometer in the minds of Guyanese, Exxon is savaged, has close to no standing, must rehabilitate itself.

For Mr. Routledge’s information, the only Guyanese impressed by his billboards are those feeding at Exxon’s trough. Those swayed by handouts. Those who live with an inferiority complex. And those who are comfortable under the yoke of colonizers.

The mistake that Exxon and Mr. Routledge made was to dismiss Guyanese as pushovers. Indeed, they are some at high elevations who are, and others who would do anything, from selling country to their souls, to be Exxon pushovers.

There are other Guyanese who are insulted by cheap clothing to keep them quiet, and big billboards intended to control their minds.

Mr. Woods, Mr. Routledge: it is my obligation, sirs, to convey that sparkling rhetoric doesn’t sizzle Guyanese hearts. A first example: ‘partnership with the Guyanese people.’ It falls flat when audit obstinacy, renegotiation resistance, and complete transparency (new oil reserves, access to all areas of Exxon’s offshore ops, accounting records, and 50:50 profit calculation) incite more distrust than comfort. Where is this partnership spoken about so smoothly? What does it look like? Who in Exxon harbors expectations that Guyanese are convinced that their country, their government, shares in a bona fide partnership, one of equals? The UGGI report on foreign oil companies exposed how poorly they shape up relative to trust.

A second example: it is degrading, infuriating, for Guyanese to hear, Messrs. Woods and Routledge, about benefits for the Guyanese people, thanks to Exxon world-class management of their wealth.

Exxon harvests spectacular profits, season after season, from its “crown jewel” in Guyana, but the Guyanese owners of that same wealth, same crown jewel, live a meager existence.

Exxon’s profit numbers and Guyana’s Oil Fund inflows do not begin to compare. Which practical partner, one committed to a fair, straight, partnership, would not agree to ringfencing new projects? Skirts around genuine 50:50 profit sharing when investments have been paid off, and Guyanese leaders are happy to be tethered to a merry-go-round? Benefits are not on an equal footing, not fair. One reason why so many locals are so distrustful of foreign oil companies. To put brutally, many see caricatures: Ugly American, predator colonizer, ruthless exploiter. This isn’t to disparage Guyana’s oil partner. It’s to sound an alarm.

Mr. Woods and Mr. Routledge, when Guyanese observe their leaders slobber about sanctity of contract, grind themselves into putty, and render themselves silly, the source of their impotency traces straight to Exxon. Their political power, their national leadership strength, hinges on the drivel of sanctity of contract. It’s why national government ranks almost to the bottom on the UGGI’s trust scale. Just above foreign oil companies. The closeness in both earning such low marks from Guyanese on crucial trust could be linked to suspicions of collusion between the two. Two peas in the same pod. The incumbent government to retain power, the oil company to prosper to the detriment of Guyanese. This not only reeks, but it also enrages.

Which citizen of any country is pleased to see national leaders reduced to quivering, bluffing, and bouncing from empty rhetorical stuffing? The supine character of Guyana’s national government renders it contemptible, coats Exxon with disrepute. Oil patrimony, democracy and liberty should never be gutted from this state.

Mr. Woods, Mr. Routledge: the game’s up. The story is out. Trust in Exxon is tantamount to a dead man walking. I wish this bitter cup wasn’t mine to drink.