IMF urges Guyana to toughen deals with oil majors
Exxon Mobil lands a sweet deal with the tiny South American country new to the oil game
Houston — Exxon Mobil received such a "favourable" deal from Guyana, home to the biggest new deepwater oil play, that the tiny South American country should rewrite its tax laws, the IMF has said. While Guyana should honour the deal, future contracts should ensure the state gets a higher portion of crude proceeds, the fund said in a report. The country, South America’s third-poorest with an average per capita income of about $4,000, has little experience of dealing with multinational behemoths such as Exxon. Terms of the 2016 contract "are relatively favourable to investors by international standards", the IMF said. "Existing production-sharing agreements appear to enjoy royalty rates well below what is observed internationally," it said. IMF officials have visited the nation often over the past nine months as they help improve its legal, fiscal and regulatory frameworks before Exxon commences oil production in 2020. Key global projects Guyana has become one of Exxon’s five key glob...
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