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OIL & GAS – most destructive industry on earth
Dear Editor,
Ms. Ryhaan Shah did bring to the public’s attention the mention Guyana received in Rachel Maddow’s book “Blowout” that deals with “corrupted democracy, rogue state Russia, and the richest, most destructive industry on earth” – Oil and Gas.
There are two other items of significance that the Guyanese Public, the Department of Energy and the EPA should be aware of. At a US Congressional Committee hearing, answering questions on the cleanup after the Deep Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Rex Tillerson – CEO of Exxon, had the following to say (page 93): “We are not well equipped to handle major oil spills. And we have never represented anything different from that. That’s why the emphasis is always on preventing these things from occurring, because when they happen, we’re not very well equipped to deal with them. And that’s just a fact of the enormity of what we’re dealing with”.
With respect to the cleanup after the spill was brought under control, the following has been reported (page 90):
“The number of booms and skimmers available was not enough to stop the spread of the oil, and soon the little balls that first reached land were followed by big toxic oil slicks. Pictures of seabirds covered from beak to talon in brown sludge, unable to take flight and suffocating to death, became a staple of the daily newsfeed. The only thing that actually seemed to do much good, were the absorbent pads, which the clean-up workers called “paper towels”. That’s certainly what they looked like, and that’s essentially what they were: flat sheets of material made from the same kind of stuff that’s inside disposable diapers, either shoved into a long thin link-sausage casing of a boom or just used by hand, to sop up the oil.”
This cautions us to be better informed on oil matters and be careful what we believe in Oil Companies’ EIA plans.
Chapter 9 of “Blowout” titled “Practical Realities” references the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 2010; Section 1504.
Section 1504 directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue rules that would require oil, gas, and mining companies listed on US stock exchanges to report the payments they make to US and foreign governments for the commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals. Since its adoption, similar requirements have been enacted within the EU and in Canada.
This section was repealed by President Trump in 2018. However, these rules would have been effective in 2015 when Guyana’s production sharing agreement was signed; therefore, I would expect that any payments made to the Guyana Government and Government Officials should have been filed and is on record at the SEC.
Regards
Sase Shewnar
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