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Exciting Offshore News! Dutch FPSO operator, SBM Offshore, has secured its fifth FPSO project in Guyana. They'll be handling the front-end engineering and design (FEED) for ExxonMobil's sixth deepwater oil venture in Guyana. This move has set the stage for the Whiptail development project. What's Happening: - SBM Offshore will design and construct the FPSO for ExxonMobil's Guyana project. - Construction costs will be repaid via senior loans upon vessel transfer. - The FPSO can hold 2 million barrels of oil, produce 250,000 barrels per day, and handle associated gas. The Whiptail Development: - Whiptail, Pinktail, and Tilapia fields are part of the venture. - Expected oil production: 275,000 barrels per day. - Commitment to minimizing gas flaring, supporting sustainability. Guyana's Promising Energy Future: - A significant leap in Guyana's oil production capacity. - SBM Offshore's local content development commitment. - The Stabroek block's ambitious development plans. This partnership between SBM Offshore and ExxonMobil is a major step forward in Guyana's energy landscape. Share your thoughts on these exciting developments!

Dear Editor, The right to free speech is fundamental and inalienable; it is a natural right. Yet, free speech is one of the facets of individual freedom most often attacked and most often denied. No society can thrive without the freedom of expression. Guyana offers some interesting insights.During the height of PNC authoritarian rule, free speech was impossible. Burnham and his cabinet dominated the media, and made sure that Opposition publications (such as The Mirror and Dayclean) were starved for newsprint. PNC officials had the radio stations at their disposal, yet that did not stop them from breaking up meetings and rallies with goon squads, some of whom were imported for that sole purpose. Today, the exact Opposite is true. We have perhaps the most open media in the world. In this space, newspapers, television and social media can do, and indeed do, anything they want. Every day, blatant disinformation, distortion, and even outright lies are peddled in two Opposition-friendly newspapers and elsewhere. Yet, Government officials are swiftly condemned if they do the right thing and respond to the disinformation. Why should the President, Vice President, Cabinet Ministers, and other Government officials not have the same right of response that every other source in this country has?Why should the Government stay silent while misleading statements, many of them utterly dangerous, are bandied about in what has become a 24-7 disinformation campaign? A big problem in Guyana is that two major newspapers are directly connected to the Civil Society elites and to the Opposition parties. What we have, then, is a comprehensive system wherein the Opposition peddles falsehoods and these are carried by the news outlets as news. When Government officials correct the record, the guilty parties find favour within their circular system of protecting disinformation under the banner of free speech.The Constitution of Guyana guarantees free speech. The press and media houses have that right in this country. That right should also be fully extended to Government officials. Sincerely, John Jacobus