ExxonMobil’s flaring is an environmental abuse of Guyana

Jan 30, 2022 News

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“The flaring is an environmental abuse of Guyana, as well as another financial burden that the country can ill-afford. ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods makes 2,000 times the average salary of a worker in Guyana. His latest total compensation amounted to $15.6 million, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, yet his company pays no taxes and disobeys environmental laws.”

– Latest lawsuit exposes its failure to manage climate issues

Kaieteur News – While ExxonMobil has fed Guyana a series of promises such as new cash, well managed operations and good environmental stewardship, citizens are now seeing just how little value those words really had.

According to Tom Sanzillo, Director of Financial Analysis at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), Guyana is seeing gross pollution of its airspace with the flaring (burning of gas that releases over 250 toxic chemicals) that continues aboard the Liza Destiny vessel in the Stabroek Block.
As a result of the flaring which Exxon has promised on numerous occasions to fix since 2020, Sanzillo recalled that three courageous women recently filed a lawsuit to put an end to this egregious act once and for all.
The litigants to the case are Sinkka Henry, Sherlina Nageer and Andriska Thorington. Their case was filed through their attorneys-at-law Melinda Janki and Ronald Burch-Smith.
As previously reported by this news agency, their case notes that Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, an offshore company wholly owned by ExxonMobil, has been flaring associated gas almost continuously since it began production in December 2019, despite undertaking to reinject the associated gas, not flare it. Court documents on the matter also state that in May 2021, after ExxonMobil had flared billions of cubic feet of associated gas, the Environmental Protection Agency purported to modify Esso’s environmental permit for the Liza Phase One Project to allow it to flare gas under certain circumstances in exchange for a US$45 fee per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The litigants are contending that the agency’s decision to modify Esso’s environmental permit to allow flaring was irrational and unlawful and that it should be quashed by the court. They also argue that the agency breached the Environmental Protection Act Cap. 20:05 by purporting to allow Esso to flare in return for paying a fee. The litigants have asked for orders directing the agency to provide reports on the amount of gas flared, and the toxins released. They are also asking for an independent and expert investigation into Esso’s compliance with manufacturer’s standards for operating its gas compressor.
Noting the foregoing, Sanzillo reminded that ExxonMobil already has paid at least $4.5 million in fines to Guyana for flaring gas from its offshore operations. He said too, “The flaring is an environmental abuse of Guyana, as well as another financial burden that the country can ill-afford” while adding that, “ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods makes 2,000 times the average salary of a worker in Guyana. His latest total compensation amounted to $15.6 million, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, yet his company pays no taxes and disobeys environmental laws.”

Lately, Sanzillo said ExxonMobil has made sweeping announcements about how it plans to curb global emissions, including a pledge of zero flaring by the end of 2022. The Financial Analyst also said that the company is chattering in terms of billions being spent, regions benefiting from new investment and tons of carbon caught, trapped, captured and stored. “Yet since it began producing oil in December 2019, it has not gotten that one project—a go-to, highly visible, top priority—right.”
What is peculiar about ExxonMobil’s growing number of managerial problems, Sanzillo asserted, is that they are winding up in court or being criticised by the company’s shareholders.
“For example, a group of ExxonMobil shareholders is suing the company, alleging it mismanaged 4 billion barrels of oil reserves in Canada. Another set of shareholders have the company in court over millions more barrels in the Permian Basin.
“Last year, ExxonMobil shareholders mounted a campaign that toppled board members and resulted in an overwhelming vote against management on climate change policy. In the face of this tumult, however, Woods declared there would be no changes to the company’s direction,” the financial expert stated.
In closing, Sanzillo said corporations are frequently sued over commercial transactions—that is normal. He stressed however that when a company is routinely sued because it cannot manage operational issues like accurate valuations of reserves, sound drilling strategies and environmental compliance—that is a serious management problem. He stressed that this state of affairs should not be ignored by the citizens of Guyana, and the authorities by extension. He alluded that it is a warning of what is to be expected in the future.

 

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