Exxon contract silent on finances in place for possible oil spill

Dec 29, 2017 ExxonMobil, News

…but company claims to have its own systems in place

When it comes to oil and gas companies, it would not be unreasonable for countries to properly prepare for the possibility of an oil spill. In fact, these companies are expected to prepare for such environmental disasters as part of their risk assessment.
But with ExxonMobil set to kick start in March 2020, Guyana is yet to see what provisions are in place by the company or the government in relation to oil spill prevention and the readiness to respond.
In fact, Kaieteur News challenged Country Manager for ExxonMobil, Rod Henson during a press conference yesterday at the Marriott Hotel to say if there were contractual provisions in place for such an eventuality.
Henson advised that there is “language” in the contract it has with the Government which speaks to this. But a careful examination of Article 28 of the Contract which focuses on Social Responsibility and Protection of the Environment, only sparks more questions.
In fact, the only detailed financial arrangement in place in the aforementioned heading is for social and environmental projects to be discussed and agreed upon by the two parties.
That arrangement says, “The Minister and the Contractor shall establish a program of financial support for environmental and social projects to be funded by the Contractor. The Contractor shall directly fund the amount of three hundred thousand United States Dollars (US$300,000.00) per Calendar Year with any unspent portion carried over into the ensuing Calendar Years of the Agreement.”

Country Manager for ExxonMobil, Rod Henson

Furthermore, Henson noted yesterday that the ExxonMobil has in place, its own Oil Spill Response Plan. He said that the Government of Guyana is in possession of this document.

OIL SPILL RESPONSE PLANS
Every country is expected to have in its possession, an oil spill response plan that the operator/company would implement in the event of such a disaster.
ExxonMobil will be hitting the start button on production in less than three years and Guyana is yet to see such a document from the company or the Government. It is important, however, that citizens are given ample opportunity to examine any oil spill response plan which would be submitted by this company.
In that document, ExxonMobil is expected to state the possible worst case scenarios that could occur during an oil spill in Guyana’s waters and how it would respond to it.

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