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Guyana to pay for produced water study ExxonMobil may not use
Kaieteur News – According to the Environmental Permit that was granted for Payara, ExxonMobil’s third development project in the Stabroek Block, a study is required to be conducted to investigate and determine the feasibility and implications of re-injecting all of the produced water from the project. International best practices dictate that water which is brought up from reservoirs during oil extraction is supposed to be re-injected into separate wells as opposed to being dumped into the ocean.
Re-injection is advised since the toxicity, which varies from one country’s basin to the next, can have a range of harmful effects on marine life.
With this in mind, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called on Exxon to submit for approval, terms of reference for the conduct of the study, detailing the feasibility of re-injecting produced water in lieu of routine discharge to the ocean, including implementing for the future installation of facilities for produced water injection, an evaluation of any potential risks to the reservoir from injection, a full cost benefit analysis, and the recommendations of the permit holder.
Within 180 days of the date of the EPA’s approval of the said terms, ExxonMobil is expected to complete the study’s final reports. The study is also expected to be conducted by an independent consultant approved by the agency.
Following the perusal of the results, the permit notes that the treatment of produced water at the Payara project “may be amended by the agency in consideration of the aforementioned approved study and the conclusions of the EPA, the Permit Holder and the Minister of Natural Resources…” It therefore means that Guyana has no guarantee that ExxonMobil would be forced to re-inject all of the produced water if the study shows that the dumping of the water would be harmful to marine life. It is important to note that Guyana will also be paying for this study through cost recovery.
It should be noted that as well that no similar study was done for the Liza Phase One or Two Projects, yet Guyana went full steam ahead with approving the permits for those projects.
It is in recognition of this grave mistake that former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams, had campaigned for ExxonMobil to put systems in place for the re-injection of the produced water for the Payara project. The official had told this news entity that the Liza Destiny vessel is already dumping 4,000 barrels of produced water into the ocean and in about six years, it will get to about 300,000 barrels.
Dr. Adams had said, “I have worked in the oil fields as a Production and Reservoir engineer and we injected every single drop of water. If you are onshore, the water would obviously have to be re-injected. Also, the World Bank has made it clear that you should only dispose of produced water into the ocean when it is not technically feasible.”
The Environmental Engineer had said that in ExxonMobil’s case, “it is more than feasible.”
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