Calls grow to build Guyana’s capacity to audit ExxonMobil’s offshore projects

Aubrey Norton, leader of Guyana’s People’s National Congress Reform and chairman of the APNU, said on August 31 that Guyana needs the capacity to audit ExxonMobil-led offshore activities in the Stabroek Block after the consortium recovered US$55 billion in investment and operating costs. News Source Guyana reported that Norton said the country lacks the technical and institutional depth to test whether figures submitted by ExxonMobil and its partners are accurate. His comments came as Guyana’s audit disputes with the Stabroek Block co-venturers remain partly unresolved and as offshore production continues to expand. ### Why is the call coming now? News Source Guyana reported on August 31 that Norton tied the issue directly to ExxonMobil’s recovery of US$55 billion in the block. He said Guyana now needs stronger capacity to audit both capital and operating expenses claimed by ExxonMobil and its co-venturers under the 2016 production sharing agreement. President Irfaan Ali said on August 19 that Guyana’s share of oil from Stabroek operations had increased from 12.5% to 39.8% following full recovery of the US$55 billion investment by the ExxonMobil-led consortium, according to News Source Guyana. (newssourcegy.com) That shift has put more attention on how past and future costs are verified. ### What exactly is Guyana auditing? (newssourcegy.com) The Ministry of Natural Resources said on May 22, 2025 that Guyana had contracted three audits of Stabroek Block expenses as part of its cost-recovery verification process under the petroleum agreement with ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC. The first audit, covering 1999 to 2017, found about US$214 million in costs that the government disputed. The second, covering 2018 to 2020, reviewed US$7.2 billion in declared expenses and found US$65.1 million that the government did not accept. (newssourcegy.com) The same ministry statement said the third audit, covering 2021 to 2023, had been completed and submitted to the government, with the Guyana Revenue Authority reviewing the initial report. Norton said the country needs people who can determine whether submissions are factual when outside auditors deliver their findings. ### Where are the bottlenecks in the current system? (dpi.gov.gy) Stabroek News reported on March 15, 2026 that the first cost-oil audit remained unresolved nearly three years after the US$214 million in questioned expenses became public. The report said Guyana had moved toward arbitration after disagreement over the selection of a sole expert under the contract’s dispute-resolution process. (dpi.gov.gy) Norton said Guyana cannot face a multinational company “more powerful than your state” without building audit capacity, according to News Source Guyana. He also said systems being developed before 2020 to strengthen human resources for offshore auditing were later undone. ### Is this only about accounting, or also about field oversight? The Ministry of Natural Resources said in June 2026 that ExxonMobil Guyana had asked to increase production on the One Guyana FPSO, and that the Petroleum Unit would need to conduct an offshore visit as part of the review. (stabroeknews.com) Minister Vickram Bharrat said officials would assess whether there were safety strains on modules and equipment before any approval. (newssourcegy.com) Bharrat also said the government had set no timeline for that assessment and wanted the EPA, the ministry and technical officers to be satisfied before approving any increase. That shows that oversight already depends on in-house review and offshore inspection capacity as production rises across four FPSOs. ### Who is pressing the government now? APNU member of parliament Sharma Solomon has also questioned the government’s handling of the third audit, News Source Guyana reported. (newssourcegy.com) Solomon said the government’s silence on the 2021-2023 audit did not meet the standard of transparency and argued that officials should do more to interrogate ExxonMobil’s figures. The Ministry of Natural Resources has said the Guyana Revenue Authority is reviewing the third audit report. The next concrete milestone is any public update on that review, alongside movement on the sole-expert or arbitration process tied to the first audit dispute. (dpi.gov.gy) (newssourcegy.com)