ExxonMobil pledges to come clean on payments to Guyana Government
USA oil conglomerate, ExxonMobil has a documented history of failing to reveal information on payments it makes to governments around the world.
But it has committed to come clean on payments to Guyana’s Administration. This pledge was made by the USA Company to Head of the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Dr. Rudy Jadoopat. In an interview with Kaieteur News, the Head of the EITI local chapter said that he is aware of the challenges other nations have faced in trying to access information about payments made to governments. He said that ExxonMobil was approached on the matter and the entity gave all assurances that there would be full compliance. Jadoopat said, “They promised that there would be no obstacles and we are looking forward to cooperation from the company.” The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international body that requires disclosures on moneys governments receive from extractive sector appears to be of little help to Nigeria. At least this is the case when it comes to payments made to the Government by USA oil giant ExxonMobil. As a company based in the US, ExxonMobil is not required to release a Payment-to-Government report. However, it is clear from analyzing disclosures from other oil and gas companies engaged in consortia with ExxonMobil that the company makes significant payments to Nigerian government entities.
This is according to the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). Assuming payments are made proportionally to the company’s equity share, NRGI said in one of its reports that one can estimate that in 2016, the company paid USD$39 million in taxes and royalties for the Usan project and between USD $212 and $223 million in taxes and production entitlements for the Bonga project. The transparency group said that these sizable revenues cover only two projects in which ExxonMobil has an interest, but point to the company’s significant role as a source of government revenue. It noted that ExxonMobil, through its Nigerian subsidiary Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN), also has several operations for which this type of estimation is not possible.
The Institute said that while the company is under no obligation to release a Payments to Government report, it is clear that if it did so voluntarily, Nigerian citizens would be better equipped to hold the government accountable for the natural resource revenues it receives. NRGI also stated that ExxonMobil declined when, as part of the research process for its briefing, it asked the company to voluntarily report 2016 payment data for Nigeria in line with data disclosed by other companies covered in this document.
(Kaieteur News)