Opinions

The privatisation in an economy can set in motion a vicious circle. Even without corruption, rapid privatisation means that governments receive less than fair market value for the companies they sell-off. While privatisation has highlighted the problem, conflicts over...

Demand is weaker, but it is getting better. There are challenges for both demand and supply sides for all oil-producing economies. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members must stick to compliance. The focus of the peak oil...

There are further problems with the timing and manner of privatisation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) once urged as rapid a privatisation as possible. They were worried that so long as resources remained under the control of the government,...

There are basically four (sometimes interrelated) mechanisms for “corrupt” privatisations, besides the obvious ones – just giving the resource to one’s cronies, or, having a first-come system in which those already in the field are in a better position...

The fact that privatisation did not solve the problem of resource diversion should not have come as a surprise: profit-maximizing private enterprises naturally seek to minimize what they give to the government for their rights to control the use...

Too often countries do not get the full value of their resources. A government would genuinely be interested in using its good luck of an abundant resource endowment for the benefit of its people. However, first, it must somehow...

The Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) has a definition of crude oil which is wide enough to include condensates, natural gas liquids and other forms of liquid hydrocarbons. Increasingly, economic and political pressures require the parties to extract...

The Guyanese government under the contract is likely to have its own share of profit hydrocarbons to lift, including natural gas. A state-owned oil and gas company (‘the government oil & gas company’) will be appointed to lift such...

The parties will commit to dedicating their natural gas entitlement to joint gas sales and will authorize the operator to conduct various activities on their behalf in a coordinated manner such as preparing a marketing strategy, designing and constructing...

Assuming that the joint venture will have limited facilities for the reinjection or storage of natural gas, the ability of the parties to take their natural gas entitlement directly affects the ability of the operator to maintain expected levels...