Oil discoveries

Nov 08, 2026 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – Oil patrimony, oil wealth, Stabroek Block, and national bonanza are all related, and have a common presence. The citizens of this Republic are recognised as the owners of what lies beneath the seas 200 kilometers from land. Are they really owners, or is that lip service that has no substance, means nothing? For one, owners are the first to know of major developments, good or bad, on any asset they own. Whatever is shared here with citizens either arrives late, arrives sketchily, or does not arrive at all. In other words, the men and women of this country, to whom the oil wealth belongs, are mostly kept in the dark. They are like strangers alongside their own world-class oil wealth.

Take the issue of oil discoveries. In terms of discoveries, citizens of this Republic, so rich on paper, have been consigned to the place of spectators at a ball game in a huge stadium. Their seats are so far away from the action, that they might as well be on another continent, or in another time zone. Whatever information they get is received secondhand from external sources. There is no information coming directly from their oil partner, ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil’s talking heads are always smoothly reassuring about how Guyana and its people are treasured as partners. Yet the true owners of Guyana’s oil are still waiting for the deference and the courtesy that are due to a respected partner. Instead, there are repeatedly disrespected and kicked around like a football by ExxonMobil and their own government.