It is indeed a very strange thing that the Department of Energy has shortlisted ExxonMobil among the companies that will be asked to submit proposals for marketing Guyana’s share of profit oil under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed with EEPGL, CNOOC Nexen and Hess.

Article 14 of the PSA, titled Disposal of Production, states specifically that the “Contractor shall, if requested by the Minister, use reasonable efforts to market abroad on competitive terms” Guyana’s share of the profit oil for an agreed-upon marketing fee.

One can only imagine that the Department of Energy possesses some knowledge that, after adjusting for all the costs associated with the shortlisting process, the marketing proposal that will be submitted by ExxonMobil would offer Guyana better terms than it would get had the Minister asked ExxonMobil to market Guyana’s share of the profit oil.