Guyana needs to safeguard the environment in any oil find

Apr 03, 2012 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
President Donald Ramotar last week visited two offshore oil rigs, REPSOL and CGX, to “get a feel” for their oil drilling operations. According to press reports, the President was “struck by the isolation and the environment in which the workers carried out their duties”.
Critically, most important to discovery of oil in Guyana is the high powered oversight to ensure that adequate legal safeguards have been negotiated and are in place to ensure that the environment is safeguarded and protected. No such oversight institution for oil currently exists. Any oil spill like that of BP in Florida and Exxon Valdez in Alaska would completely ruin Guyana’s ecosystem. Our fishermen, farmers and coastal dwellers, who depend on the oceans for economic survival, and Hindus for religious practices, would be seriously compromised.   Guyanese welfare must not be an afterthought. All Guyanese culture, economics and health would be irreparably damaged.
Preplanning must also take into account the likelihood of substantive gas deposits being discovered. The Guyana Government therefore urgently needs to establish a Guyana Energy & Oil Authority (GEOA) to oversee all the ramifications – legalistic, environmental, revenue oversight, labour facilities, workers’ rights, housing, recreation, health  etc., –  and of course encourage and monitor  the “ do good” community giveback of the oil companies in Guyana. The replacement of current rigs must be addressed since they are not built to adequately service workers on a 24/7 basis.
When thousands of barrels are likely to be produced daily, two or three highly talented GEOA  officials must be posted on board the rigs to ensure that the amount of barrels declared by the oil and gas companies is what is actually produced; similar to the non company guardian at GuySuCo cane-weighing scales. GEOA must have its liaison on all rigs at all times.
Establishing two electronic counters, i.e. “one fuh dem and one fuh we” to double-check for production accuracy is not a bad idea.  Of course the human and “electronic” counters must have frequent and impromptu inspections, with the former being rotated or moved around to other sites, so that they do not fall victim to bribery and corruption. Our experiences with rigging must always keep us on guard.
What is more reassuring for Guyana striking oil is the bonanza last week of nearby Trinidad’s massive 48 billion barrel discovery. The Trinidad Guardian newspaper on 4-1-12 reported that “the find was located four miles off the west coast of Trinidad in 60 feet of water. It is an area known as Cluster Six in the state-owned Petrotrin’s Trinimar Gulf of Paria acreage. The find is at a depth of 4,000-5,000 feet and is close to established offshore infrastructure. The oil discovery was both light crude – a more marketable type – and heavy crude”. Coming so soon after oil was found last year offshore French Guiana, it gave Guyana much hope for great optimism. Trinidad can be of much help in all of Guyana’s oil and gas ventures.
REPSOL, which began Guyana operations on 5th December 2011 at  the Jaguar-1 site, claim they spent some G$52  million (of a G$180 million budget) while CGX, which began drilling in February 2012  is drilling at the same location on the Corentyne River from which it was evicted some 12 years ago by Suriname. They have reportedly spent some G$55 million so far.
Trinidad’s 48 billion barrels potential is contrary to the Guyana Chronicle’s citing of “the US Geological Survey (which) ranked Guyana as having the second most attractive under explored oil basin in the world with a possibility of 15.2 billion barrels of oil.”
With no authentic estimate of what is actually below the ground, there may be less deposits, but it could also mean that Guyana potentially has considerably lots more oil and gas since it is virgin territory, in which case the oil companies will get a huge financial windfall, which dwarfs their initial investments.
Now more than ever the Ramotar PPP/C Government needs to publicly reveal and clarify what are the terms of the agreement between them and the oil companies.  In the meantime, the PPP/C urgently needs to institute a more proactive monitoring of Guyana’s oil and gas resources.
With the current low wattage bulbs in charge of Guyana’s legal affairs, it leaves much to be desired. None can be impressed after the recent legal mess which witnessed Norway’s circuitous funneling of the forest protection funds to the World Bank. This should never have occurred if adequate legal oversight was done in the first place.
An oversight body such as the Guyana Energy & Oil Authority should have all the legal, geological, environmental and cultural awareness, as well as compassionate and professionally skilled staff, to safeguard and protect Guyana’s oil resources. Its leadership must be of the highest incorruptible calibre and be held accountable in parliament or in camera as required. Former Speaker Mr. Ralph Ramkarran is an excellent candidate to head GEOA. His non-hesitation to recommend the termination of the Guyana Airways Corporation when it was hemorrhaging money bespeaks well of his decisiveness. With his legal experiences and acknowledged incorruptible history of looking out for the disadvantaged, he now has an exemplary tradition of looking out for Guyana.
Our oil and gas resources cannot be left to chance, but must be protected by the best and experienced, and only those who will not fall to corruption, but keep Guyana safe and protected.
Sultan Mohamed

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