ExxonMobil Guyana has publicly rebutted assertions that it has benefited from U.S. foreign tax credits tied to its operations in Guyana, with the company’s local president accusing U.S. senators of being misled by outside groups. The controversy emerged after three U.S. lawmakers—Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Jeff Merkley and Chris Van Hollen—sent a letter to ExxonMobil’s global leadership suggesting that American taxpayers might be subsidizing the company’s Guyana operations via foreign tax credit claims.
In a press briefing held at ExxonMobil’s Ogle office, Alistair Routledge, President of ExxonMobil Guyana, flatly denied that any Guyanese tax credits had been included in the company’s 2023 and 2024 U.S. filings. He suggested that the NGO Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN), whose research was cited by the senators, may have “misled” them. Routledge went further to explain that to date, ExxonMobil has not utilized any tax credits from Guyana and, cumulatively, remains cash-flow negative in the country’s operations.
The senators’ argument hinges on the concept of a “dual capacity” taxpayer—namely, a company that pays tax in a foreign jurisdiction while also receiving economic benefits (such as rights or subsidies) from that jurisdiction. They flagged the structure of the Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), under which ExxonMobil recovers costs and retains 75 percent of oil output value, while the government and partners share the remaining 25 percent. Under that PSA, the government is responsible for paying ExxonMobil’s income taxes from its share of revenue.
The senators suggested that such payments may not qualify for foreign tax credits under U.S. law, given rules against crediting what are effectively subsidies.
Responding, Routledge reaffirmed ExxonMobil’s stance that it has claimed no Guyanese tax credits to date, and that the U.S. filings in question do not include them. He noted ongoing efforts to finalize tax payments with the Guyana Revenue Authority but dismissed the notion that the company was receiving undue offsets.
