Scholarlink

In 2015, the US oil company ExxonMobil discovered huge quantities of oil and gas off the coast of Guyana, a coastal country in the northern part of South America. Shortly after the oil discovery, the Guyanese government signed a contract with ExxonMobil and its coventurers, which granted the country only two percent of royalties and freed ExxonMobil from paying any taxes. Under these conditions, the World Bank provided two Technical Assistance loans of $55 million to Guyana between 2018 and 2019 aimed at developing new fiscal, regulatory, and legal frameworks for the oil and gas sector. While the World Bank claims its mission is to support the Guyanese government in managing its petroleum sector, experts say the World Bank facilitated a continuation of history in favour of the fossil industry. Not only did the World Bank hire ExxonMobil's go-to law firm to draft the country's petroleum regulations, but it also pursued the project with the support of a government that had been voted out of office by a vote of no confidence at the time. Drawing on Nkrumah’s theory of neocolonialism, this paper argues that the World Bank supported neocolonial structures in Guyana.

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Neocolonialism Facilitated by the World Bank? A Case Study of the World Bank’s Involvement in the Development of Guyana’s Oil and Gas Sector

  • 章节

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

查看全文
  • Jule Lümmen

摘要

In 2015, the US oil company ExxonMobil discovered huge quantities of oil and gas off the coast of Guyana, a coastal country in the northern part of South America. Shortly after the oil discovery, the Guyanese government signed a contract with ExxonMobil and its coventurers, which granted the country only two percent of royalties and freed ExxonMobil from paying any taxes. Under these conditions, the World Bank provided two Technical Assistance loans of $55 million to Guyana between 2018 and 2019 aimed at developing new fiscal, regulatory, and legal frameworks for the oil and gas sector. While the World Bank claims its mission is to support the Guyanese government in managing its petroleum sector, experts say the World Bank facilitated a continuation of history in favour of the fossil industry. Not only did the World Bank hire ExxonMobil's go-to law firm to draft the country's petroleum regulations, but it also pursued the project with the support of a government that had been voted out of office by a vote of no confidence at the time. Drawing on Nkrumah’s theory of neocolonialism, this paper argues that the World Bank supported neocolonial structures in Guyana.