Petroleum Industry: Environment Impact Question is absent

Feb 01, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
This “Oil Shout” reminds me of the era of the Kurupung gold rush and pork knockers with sweet stories of their experiences but broken dreams on the trails and rivers back home. Don’t read me wrong! I am not a skeptic, but amidst the jubilation of the oil companies, policy makers, and economists over the potentials of the Lisa and Payara fields, the environmental impact question is glaringly absent.
In the recent news, our policy makers tend to focus on the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and the stabilization effect on the budget. I sincerely hope that our leaders would have followed and understood the lessons of the outcome of a two-and-a-half-year legal battle between Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities, and management firm, and Libya’s $67 billion sovereign fund squandered.
The firm won this case in the London High Court later in 2016. Similarly, our economists question how the management of the SWF can lead to Guyana’s economic transformation, diversification, and sustainability. This national conversation is necessary as it cites, among other needs, the procurement of rare skills for the industry. We also have the chance to respond meaningfully to the 40% unemployment of our youths, many of whom may be school drop-outs, un-skilled, and substance abusers.
One may argue that investments in the petroleum and gas industry will create employment and solve our energy and infrastructure development problems. In some ways, the nation would benefit but this progress comes with a price tag. Globally, there are risks to environment and health in the practices of these extractive industries. Drilling for oil in the waters of our continental shelf, located in the Amazon River Basin, and which hosts pristine ecosystems, can be disastrous in case of an explosion as we witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
Ocean drilling releases methane gas in the atmosphere which is about 85 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. There is also the risk of oil spills and slicks of crude oil from drilling rigs, tankers, and offshore platforms which disrupt marine and other wildlife, alter their habitat on and off shore, and suppress their immune and reproductive systems which would lead to long term ecological change.
There are further risks if we invest in a refinery. Undoubtedly, having a refinery would create jobs and manufacturing businesses since we use a wide range of petroleum by-products daily. On the other side of this reality, we can expect the release of some level of toxic chemicals, dust, and haze which would pollute the air and water of our nearby rivers and creeks. Emissions also have the capacity to render agricultural land barren in the same way oil spills deplete marine life thereby affecting the livelihood of farmers and fishermen.
As in the bauxite industry and OMAI gold production, we can also expect open pits and ponds to contain waste water, petroleum hydrocarbons, and organic chemicals which can compromise the safety of our water if breached. So, I would highlight the negative effects on human health and the need for laws, stringent oversight, and compliance in regulating this industry.
These risks and potential hazards can be countered as Global Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s), environmental groups, and international organizations will be ready and willing to help build local capacity consistent with their mandate to assist developing countries in matters of poverty, sustainability, and the environment. Guyana also has a wonderful opportunity to engage the diaspora by building and recruiting from a data-base of rare petroleum industry related skills which would include Geophysicists, Geologists, Petroleum Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Engineering Analysts, Geosciences Analysts, Process and Production Operators, and Technicians among many others.
Finally, I am instructed by the New York Times article of January 13, 2017 titled “With a Major Oil Discovery, Guyana is Focused to Become a Top Producer”. The good news is that for years the US State Department has been trying to prepare Guyana for its potential oil rush with a program that advises the government on how to draft environmental regulations, financial arrangements, and other forms of oversight.
In addition to that, while EXXON Mobil’s head Mr. Tillerson is poised to be confirmed as the incoming US Secretary of State, he promised to recuse himself from decisions affecting Exxon Mobil and thereafter consult with ethics officers at the State Department. Guyana’s advocacy of a “green economy” may not be a contradiction if regulations are constructed and complied with, to protect the ecosystem and preserve our traditional habits of organic subsistence farming.
Max Wallerson

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