US$1B TAX GIVEAWAY TO HESS EXPOSED: FINANCIALS REVEAL STAGGERING LOSS TO GUYANA

Georgetown, Guyana – Newly released financial statements from Hess Guyana Exploration Limited have confirmed that Guyana effectively forfeited approximately US$1 billion in taxes in 2025 alone under the terms of the 2016 Petroleum Agreement—an arrangement that continues to spark outrage over its disproportionate benefits to foreign oil companies.

Hess, which holds a 30% stake in the prolific Stabroek Block alongside ExxonMobil (45%) and CNOOC (25%), reported after-tax profits of approximately US$3 billion for 2025. However, the company’s financial disclosures reveal an income tax expense of GY$201.8 billion (approximately US$1 billion)—taxes that were not paid by the company, but instead waived by the Government of Guyana under the controversial agreement.

This single-year tax waiver is nearly equivalent to Guyana’s entire infrastructure budget for 2025, which stood at GY$209 billion.

Even more alarming is the comparison with national oil revenues. While Hess alone benefited from US$1 billion in waived taxes, Guyana received just US$2.5 billion in total profits and royalties combined. Royalty payments amounted to a mere US$330.6 million, according to the Bank of Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund report—meaning the country surrendered three times more in taxes to one company than it earned in royalties from all production.

Chartered accountant and attorney Christopher Ram has condemned the arrangement, arguing that Guyanese taxpayers are effectively subsidizing some of the most profitable oil operations globally.
Under Article 15 of the 2016 Petroleum Agreement, ExxonMobil and its co-venturers are exempt from corporation tax, VAT, excise duties, and other fiscal obligations. Instead, the Government of Guyana is required to pay these taxes on their behalf and issue certificates declaring that the companies have satisfied their tax obligations.

These certificates can then be used in their home jurisdictions to avoid further taxation.
Ram describes this mechanism as a “legal fiction” that enables the transfer of billions of dollars abroad virtually tax-free, while ordinary Guyanese citizens and businesses remain fully subject to the country’s tax regime.

Further analysis indicates that the exemptions extend beyond corporate taxes. The agreement also eliminates withholding taxes on profit remittances, a standard fiscal tool applied to all other entities operating in Guyana. Ram estimates that had these provisions been applied, Guyana could have collected an additional GY$409 billion in 2025 alone.
The financial disclosures from Hess provide rare, concrete evidence of the scale of revenue foregone under the current petroleum framework. With financial statements from ExxonMobil and CNOOC still pending, the full extent of the fiscal concessions granted to the Stabroek Block partners remains unknown.

What is clear, however, is that Guyana continues to lose billions annually under a deal that places extraordinary fiscal burdens on its citizens while granting sweeping exemptions to foreign oil companies.

The question that now confronts policymakers and the public alike is whether this arrangement can continue to stand in the face of mounting evidence that the country is receiving less than it is giving away.