ExxonMobil claims "mistake" in inflated GRA declaration corrected

The President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge today said Exxon has not been summoned by the Court to face any charges, along side its former broker Ramps Logistics (Guyana) Inc, over an alleged false declaration made to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) amounting to US$12.1B.

The GRA has accused ExxonMobil and Ramps Logistic of making a false declaration to the Revenue Authority back in November 2016 for a quantity of oil well equipment and supplies listed in an invoice. The invoice was billed at US$12.1B, though the equipment only valued approximately US$4.467M.

But the ExxonMobil President told reporters today that the company remains committed to working ethically.

“We have not received any court summons or documents. We are always committed to working ethically, correctly, making sure all of our submissions be they for tax purposes or cost recovery are accurate,” Routledge.

According to Mr. Routledge, the inflated sum was as a result of an error, and the GRA has since received the requisite document reflecting the correct figure.

“The GRA has the correct number, and everything was caught early and no issues, nobody suffered any loss. Everything was taken care of” he said.

Noting that the company undergoes a business practices review with all of its workers to ensure that they understand the importance of reporting accurately, and doing business correctly, Routledge said a lesson has surely been learnt.

“If there is something that is not as it should have been, then we will learn from that. In fact, we have already revisited the procedures around those submissions. As you may also be aware that the company that is supporting us for those customs duties has changed, so, we don’t anticipate that kind of issue arising again but we will learn and make sure that we put in place every thing we can to not have errors,” he said.

Both Exxon and Ramps Logistics are expected to appear in Court next week in relation to the matter. The two company has reportedly severed ties with its customs brokerage firm that provided the inflated documents.