Court grants Glenn Lall extension to file submission in oil tax waiver case
Court grants Glenn Lall extension to file submission in oil tax waiver case
Kaieteur News – The High Court has granted extension of time to the legal team for Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall to file submissions in the case which challenges the Government’s tax waiver to ExxonMobil’s Subsidiary, Esso Exploration Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and its affiliates.
Lall is seeking to overturn the expansive tax provisions granted by the government to the oil companies as part of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for oil drilling exploration in the Stabroek Block.
Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall
His main contention is that the provisions of the agreement violate the Petroleum Act, by purporting to extend production-sharing concessions to persons other than those licensed.
Against this background, he argues that any exemptions referred to in Article 15 of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act, purporting to extend concessions to persons other than the licensees is not consistent with the provisions of the Act.
The presiding Justice in the matter is Mr. Nareshwar Harananan. According to a notice issued by the judges registrar on Monday Lall’s attorney, Mohamed R. Ali was granted until October 31, 2022 to file submissions in the matter. As a result of the new timeline set, oral arguments into the case will be conducted on 12th December 2022 and February 22, 2023 is set for the ruling in the matter. Lall’s extension was granted weeks after similar extensions were requested by both the Government of Guyana (GoG) and EEPGL.
The GoG had finally through the office of the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall filed a response noting its contentions. Among them , the GOG noted Lall’s application raises several contentions for the court’s consideration including whether the agreement between the Government of Guyana and ExxonMobil are subject to the principles of private law or public law; whether the acts of the Minister of Natural Resources and certain sub-articles of the Petroleum Agreement were ultra vires and in breach of sections 10 and 51 of Petroleum Exploration and Production Act (PEPA), sub-sections 1A and 1B of section 6 of the Financial Administration (and Audit) FAA; and whether upon its proper interpretation the PEPA permits the payment of taxes due on behalf of licensees.
In its response, the government has noted that the Minister responsible for petroleum may enter into an agreement with the oil company as it relates to any matter related to development and exploration in Guyana.
“It is clear… that the Minister had a power both at common law and in statute to enter into the Petroleum Agreement,” the government said in its submission. Further, it contended that the Minister assigned responsibility for Finance, by order, which shall be subject to affirmative resolution of the National Assembly, be able to direct any or all written law shall not apply to or in relation to a licensee where the licensee has entered into a production sharing agreement with the GoG.
Among other things, the Government contends that Lall exercised undue delay in filing the court action. Further, the government noted that Lall provided no reason for the six years hiatus in bringing these proceedings before the Courts. “…The lapse of five years in seeking such redress amounted to inordinate delay in the absence of any cogent explanation. It is in the public interest that claims do not become stale…,” the Government said in the document. It is further submitted that third parties, who are not before the court and have not been given any opportunity to be heard in this regard, entered into contracts of varying value with Exxon; the added respondent.
