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PNCR calls for investigation into gas monetization deals
Dr. Bharat Jagdeo, Vice-President
…said that given Jagdeo’s scandalous past, the issue of conflict of interest cannot be ignored
Kaieteur News– People’s National Congress for Reform (PNC/R) president Shurwayne Holder has called for an investigation into questionable gas monetization deals between the Guyana government and a one-year-old company founded by former ExxonMobil Guyana vice president Jesus Bronchalo.
The shadow natural resources minister told this newspaper on Tuesday that the award of the contract to Fulcrum LNG had set off alarm bells.
“While I fully understand the CEO’s experience in the oil and gas sector, we have to consider that the company he leads is only a year old and has no track record of undertaking such projects. I think this is a company operation, not a one-man show,” he explained.
Moreover, Holder insisted that the conflict of interest between the company’s CEO and ExxonMobil could not be ignored.
Shadow Natural Resources Minister Shurwayne Holder
“I don’t care that Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said ExxonMobil does not support gas monetization. You can’t trust anything he says, he often says the wrong things, so we can’t just trust what Jagdeo says in defense of the company,” the opposition MP said.
The Shadow Natural Resources Minister further stressed that the track record of PPPs showed that many companies lacked the capacity to undertake work and failed to meet the terms of their contracts, yet the government defended these companies.
Holder also noted that “the public has also learned about allegations of corruption in the oil and gas industry based on the video of the discussion between Vice President Jagdeo and So Chee Young released by Vice News.”
While praising the newspaper’s investigative reporting and informing the nation about the background details of the Fulcrum LNG project, he urged that enough revelations had been made to warrant a full investigation into the award of the contract. “If this administration has nothing to hide, then it must do the right thing and launch an investigation immediately,” Holder insisted.
Although the administration has ruled out the possibility of a conflict of interest between Fulcrum LNG and ExxonMobil, Holder insisted that the vice president’s comments should not be taken seriously.
“On the one hand, he gave the impression that he was fully aware of the procurement process; to the extent that he conducted his own review and found the proposal put forward by Fulcrum LNG to be the best; but at the same time, he distanced himself from the procurement process. The public did not get any deeper understanding of the various proposals put forward by different companies and why Fulcrum LNG’s obvious conflicts of interest and inexperience were ignored,” the MP said.
He therefore called for an independent, transparent investigation into the controversial gas deal.
Is there a conflict of interest?
Fulcrum LNG was founded by Jesus Bronchalo, former vice president of ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL), in July 2023, just five months after he left ExxonMobil. He resigned a month after 19 years at the oil giant.
Later, the Government of Guyana (GoG) selected Bronchalo’s company to design, finance, build and operate the required gas infrastructure to provide gas monetization solutions and accelerate upstream gas development in the country. The deal was announced by President Irfaan Ali in June 2024.
There is no mention of completed projects on the Fulcrum website. Kaieteur News Fulcrum LNG’s main features are the development of state-of-the-art gas processing and modular, scalable facilities to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) and NGLS/LPG for Guyana as well as regional and global markets.
The company’s limited experience raises serious questions about its ability to meet its contractual obligations.Bronchalo’s company was selected as the “most responsive and compliant bidder” out of 16 companies bidding to develop non-associated gas from the ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek Block.
Additionally, the CEO’s relationship with US oil giant ExxonMobil has also raised concerns among Guyanese, but the government has ruled out the possibility of a conflict of interest. In fact, Vice President Jagdeo told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that Fulcrum LNG’s proposal was the most welcome to the government.
“He had left Exxon, but if anything, maybe the evaluators thought he had the data on the gas,” Jagdeo said. “I don’t know if they actually did that… On the face of it, I think this was the best proposal that the evaluators came up with and the one that we wanted, so I don’t see any issues with the bid evaluation or anything major wrong with it other than he used to work for Exxon.”
When asked to comment on the fact that Fulcrum LNG had no known experience and had only been registered for one year, the vice president went on to defend the contract award, insisting that the founder had many years of experience in the field through his previous work at ExxonMobil. “But he has been with ExxonMobil for a long time, but he has been a project developer for a long time,” Jagdeo pointed out.
Fulcrum LNG has not responded to this newspaper’s invitation to comment on this story since Saturday.
detail
Meanwhile, this newspaper’s investigation has found that the former ExxonMobil vice president appears to be one of only two registered employees of Fulcrum LNG.
Bronchalo, who left ExxonMobil in February 2023, is not only the CEO of Fulcrum LNG, but also holds several other professional positions in the company he registered in July 2023. Bronchalo is also the company’s secretary, treasurer, director and president. From all indications, he has only employed one employee. Kaieteur News Discovery Ivor Ellul has been hired as Technical Director of Fulcrum LNG. Appointed in July 2023, he previously worked for companies including Schlumberger GeoQuest and CiSK Ventures, Ltd. Ellul has held senior positions during his career, including Managing Director, Chairman, CEO and President.
A deeper dive into the company’s record also led to Kaieteur News To Fulcrum LNG’s business address. The energy company’s business premises appear to be a two-story guest house located at 937 TAHOE Boulevard in Incline Village, Nevada, USA. According to company records, Fulcrum LNG’s business premises is Suite 130B.
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