EPA to conduct public hearing next month

Sep 28, 2021 News

Canje Block 12-well campaign…

Kaieteur News – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that next month it will be holding, a public hearing into Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited’s (EEPGL) 12-well exploration and appraisal campaign in the Canje Block.
When ExxonMobil had sent in its application for approval several weeks ago, the EPA had announced that no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be required. But this only attracted scathing criticisms from several industry stakeholders who are of the view that the project will have a significant impact in terms of emissions release on the environment. In light of this, the agency will be holding a public hearing to listen to the concerns and enquiries raised against its decision.
Kaieteur News understands that the public hearing which is set for October 14 at the EPA’s head office at Ganges Street, Sophia, Georgetown will involve representations from the appellants, the developer and other key stakeholders. Following this, the Environmental Assessment Board will deliberate on the findings and prepare a report with its decision confirming or setting aside the EPA’s decision.
The Canje Block is operated by EEPGL, ExxonMobil’s subsidiary. The other partners holding working interests are Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas, Inc., JHI Associates (BVI), Inc., and Total E&P Guyana B.V. The Petroleum Agreement covers approximately 26,806 km2 or 10,350 square miles.
According to the project document seen by Kaieteur News, EEPGL had conducted a 3D seismic survey of the Canje Block in 2016 and a subsequent Environmental Baseline Survey (EBS) was conducted in 2018. Based on such work through 2019, a number of perspective prospect areas were identified.
The same or similar support vessels that are being used to buttress current exploration and development drilling activities in the Stabroek Block will be used to support the drilling of the additional 12 exploration wells in the Canje Block. In terms of aviation assets, the existing fleet of six helicopters will continue to be utilised to support the six drill ships as well as on-going Liza Phase Two Offshore Subsea Umbilical Riser and Flowline (SURF) installation operations. Additional crews are also being added in order to have the ability to fly simultaneous crew change flights.
In 2019, ExxonMobil relinquished a portion of the Canje Block under the terms of the exploration licence, reducing the size of the contract area from 6,100 square kilometres (sq. km.) to 4,800 sq. km. It is anticipated that with just over a dozen initial prospects identified for exploration in the Canje Block, it will yield some 10 billion barrels of oil.

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