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How The Oil Company Called Maranco Was Selected For A PSA
posted (March 10, 2011)
Last night we told you about cabinet's decision on Tuesday to propose that a company called Maranco get an oil production sharing agreement for a block in the northwestern Orange Walk district. That's an odd thing, "to decide to propose" - but we take it that the matter is couched that way because it is still open for comments from the public.

Today, Minister of Sports, Public Service and Governance John Saldivar told us what Cabinet based its decision on:

Jules Vasquez
"Are you able to say what informed the decision by Cabinet?"

Hon. John Saldivar, Minister of Sports, Public Service and Governance
"I think there were 5 applicants from what was presented to us. 3 of them were deemed not to have the sufficient qualifications whether it is financial or technical to qualify for consideration. 2 of them were submitted to Cabinet - that being BNE and the other being Maranco. Maranco being ranked by the Petroleum Department as the better suited of the two and the Cabinet went along with the recommendations of the Geology Department."

The person with the expertise is Paul Marriot a former director of Belize Natural Energy. But the entire holding structure of the company is a matter of some intrigue for environmental watchdogs as it is truncated across multiple trusts and multiple names associated with that. We'll keep following it…

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