Commissioner-General to share ExxonMobil contractual agreement with staff when necessary

GRA Press Statement, Georgetown: The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) wishes to state firmly that it remains committed to fulfilling its obligations as one of the regulatory bodies for the rapidly emerging oil and gas sector in Guyana.

Part of that commitment involves the imposition of rigid systems at the Authority to closely monitor exploration companies that are undertaking exploration and extraction of oil offshore, in keeping with the contractual agreement between the Guyana Government and such oil exploration companies including ExxonMobil.

The GRA is privy to such contractual arrangements. However in keeping with the law this information is confidential. To maintain its confidentiality and avoid leakages, the Commissioner-General will only share such excerpts of the said agreement with relevant officers in the event that their duties require them being privy to such information in the execution of such duties.

Such a position takes into consideration a number of factors, chief among them, the sensitivity and confidentiality of the document and the level of caution that had to be imposed as a result of persistent breaches of the Secrecy Oath at the Authority. The recent Kaieteur News article “GRA officials ‘sailing’ on EXXON contract” is the latest such breach of confidentiality and further evidence of the need to exercise such diligence.