Oil producers give their take on the agreements

There was a lot of back and forth between G.O.B. and the oil producers to get to today’s press conference, with both parties pulling out all the cards to get their way. For B.N.E. Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Gilbert Canton and Country representative for U.S Capital Energy, Alistair King, they can live with the tax so long as the industry is allowed to grow.

Gilbert Canton, C.E.O., Belize Natural Energy
“The principles outlined by the Prime Minister offers a roadmap to an acceptable win/win arrangement whereby government increases its stake and private investment in exploration and development continues. We expect that the process pioneered in this joint effort will continue through the detailed legislation process so that the industry can join with the administration to support specific legislation.”

Alistair King, U.S. Capital Energy
“Our concern was that the first proposal was going to chase away all our investors and financiers that are helping us to do this exploration works so as far as what they have come up with now, I can’t answer for the industry, but I feel that nobody likes taxes but I feel that it’s something that we will be able to work with.”

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“We do not want to destroy the industry, the idea cannot be to chase people away and so there had to be a degree of give and take. Our bottom line was that we knew we would have to be able to show the Belizean people that there is a tangible gain in revenues to them as a consequence to the rise in oil prices.”

Canton reports that up to the end of this past June, B.N.E. had sold two point two million barrels of oil, raking in earnings of a whopping one hundred and sixty-seven million dollars.