By Darsh Khusial
News Americas Now, NY, NY, Thurs. Oct. 29, 2026: An article in The Sunday Telegraph states: “In Guyana, President Irfaan Ali has been a loud and leading voice in the slave-trade reparations campaign.” The article also reports that the Caribbean is calling for US$24 trillion in reparations for slavery. That amounts to approximately US$3.4 million per person across the English-speaking Caribbean states, with their combined population of roughly seven million.
Britain currently has a public debt of approximately US$4 trillion, or about US$57,000 per person, based on a population of 70 million. The country faces financial difficulties, and many of its citizens worry about paying their heating bills this coming winter. Britain is therefore in no financial position to pay US$24 trillion to compensate for the wrongs of its past.
On February 26, 2020, Guyanese Critic asked Irfaan Ali: “The oil contract [2016 Stabroek PSA]. Do you agree with the $55 billion signed away, um, Global Witness report, and will you revisit the oil contract?”
Ali responded: “We have made it very clear that we can never agree. How can… how can… I don’t think any Guyanese agree with this. No Guyanese. Except the government that is defending it. We can… we… we have made it very clear that we have to go towards, we’re
looking at these contracts, renegotiating these contracts, looking at, uh, contract management, and all of these things. Everything we have to re-look at, because we have to ensure that our country does not get, uh, the wrong end of the stick.”
A recording of the exchange is available through OGGN. Global Witness based its estimate of US$55 billion in forgone revenue on reserves of 7.9 billion barrels and an oil price of US$65 per barrel. The announced reserves now stand at 11 billion barrels, while oil futures prices are around US$115 per barrel, with spot prices approximately US$20 higher.
The reserves estimate was last updated in April 2022, as OGGN has noted. An estimated 21 discoveries have been made since then, representing an increase of roughly 70% in the number of discoveries since the 11-billion-barrel figure was announced. An increase in discoveries does not necessarily translate into a proportional increase in recoverable reserves. Nevertheless, applying the reasoning behind the Global Witness estimate to higher reserves and prices suggests that Guyana could be giving up more than US$100 billion-approximately US$100,000 per Guyanese citizen. One would therefore expect Ali to be redoubling his efforts to renegotiate the oil contract. Instead, he continues to falsely parrot “sanctity of contract” as a reason it cannot be renegotiated, an argument this OGGN commentary challenges.
The gap between Ali’s earlier promises and his current position on renegotiation undermines confidence in his statements about reparations for slavery. He spoke of ensuring that Guyana did not get the “wrong end of the stick,” yet his approach to the oil contract
appears inconsistent with that commitment.
These are two distinct questions, and pursuing reparations need not prevent a government from seeking better oil terms. But the contrast matters: one issue depends on a distant government agreeing to an extraordinary payment, while the other concerns decisions
Guyana’s own leaders can press for now. Public commitments should be judged not only by the causes leaders champion abroad, but also by the actions they take to protect their country’s interests at home.
Given Britain’s economic strains, Ali should devote at least as much effort to renegotiating the oil contract as he does to advocating for reparations. At least US$3 billion worth of oil is now being extracted every month, and that figure is expected to rise in 2027. The financial stakes for Guyana are immediate and substantial.
Furthermore, if Ali is serious about standing up for the Caribbean, he should push for a parent-company guarantee to cover liabilitiesfrom an oil spill. A major spill could impose devastating costs on Guyana and neighboring Caribbean countries. Instead, Ali appears to be siding with the oil companies rather than ensuring that Guyana and the wider Caribbean have adequate financial protection in the event of such a disaster.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Darsh Khusial writes about governance and public policy in Guyana, with a focus on the oil and gas sector. This commentary is submitted on behalf of OGGN.
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