24hrs monitoring of off-shore activities needed before Yellowtail approval- OGGN

Feb 04, 2022 News

Kaieteur News- In the absence of 24-hours offshore monitoring of Guyana’s oil production, the evidence of abuse has been glaring with Guyana’s fisheries sector suffering declines. To ensure that this does not continue to affect the country, the Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN) has advised that full-time monitoring should come on stream, before ExxonMobil’s fourth project, the Yellowtail development, is approved.

OGGN spokesperson, Darshanand Khusial

In a strongly worded missive, OGGN, an agency founded by specialists across the globe which has been keeping watch on Guyana’s oil sector, said that the time has come for Guyana to cease its dependency on the oil companies for pertinent information on the country’s oil production.
Darshanand Khusial, on behalf of the OGGN, in a letter to this newspaper contended, “We are a sovereign state not a subsidiary of the oil companies”.
In this context, the specialist made the observation that it appears as though the Government of Guyana has put its faith in the oil companies that operate in the Stabroek Block, even though glaring issues have been raised in relation to the contract signed with the oil companies operating in that block.
According to him, “numerous issues have been raised during oil production such as flaring and a reduction in fish being caught (and) we need to have our own checks in place and stop relying on the oil companies to inform us on matters of national importance”.
“We are depending on oil companies, who have been unfair partners, to monitor for us. Given our lack of monitoring, would we find out that a major oil spill has occurred when it washes up on our shores? Before we approve Yellowtail, we need 24-hour monitoring in place for such things as flaring, toxic water (dumping) and oil spills,” the OGGN urged.
The specialist flagged that beginning with the contract signed for the Stabroek Block back in 2016, it was not entered into with oil companies ExxonMobil, HESS, or China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), but instead, shell companies registered in the Caribbean which are named on the contract.
“These shell companies have limited resources but they serve the purpose of protecting the parent companies from major lawsuits and liabilities,” the Oil Network dared to explain.
Not only this, but OGGN pointed out that the contract itself contains “highly questionable” clauses including Guyana paying taxes on behalf of the oil companies.
Even though this is the case, the organization argued that Guyana still continues to “blindly trust” the oil companies to inform the government on how much gas is being flared and the amount of toxic water being dumped into the ocean, some five years after the signing of the Stabroek contract.
More alarming however, the oil governance network said that no mention has been made of the vast rate of pollution taking place, due to the flaring of gas. The organization stated, “In July 2020, the media reported that the Guyana EPA said that the gas flaring was projected to end on August 10, 2020. However, more than a year and a half after that statement, the oil companies are still flaring our gas”.
It added that on December 4, 2021 during a Moray House Trust consultation, it was reported that the Liza 1 operation was bringing up, on a daily basis, 180 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas with the oil. However, the OGGN highlighted that at least 83 billion cubic feet of gas has not been accounted for since the production of oil commenced at Liza 1.
Khusial reasoned, “The 180 mmscfd figure is from page viii of the EIA Volume 1 for Liza Phase 1. However, after subtracting for the gas flared (16 mmscfd) and that used in operations (20 mmscfd), there were at least 83 billion cubic feet of gas (144 mmscfd x 578 days) that is not accounted for since Liza 1 started producing oil”.
The specialist was keen to note that that amount of gas could have powered all the homes in Guyana with electricity for about seven years, but this gas has “vanished”.
“Can the Ministry of Natural Resources and the EPA give an explanation for that?” he enquired.
On the other hand, the OGGN did not spare the government and the oil companies in highlighting the negative effects the fishermen have been severely impacted by. The specialist reasoned, “Is it a coincidence the reduction in fish seems to have occurred in the same period when we started pumping oil? Who is monitoring the changes caused by the daily dumping of toxic water from the oil production vessels?”
Nevertheless, he shared that the consequences are evident by the thousands of fishermen being affected, however there is no action being taken to understand the root cause of the problem, in his opinion. In this regard, Khusial said, “Could the fish that is now being caught contain oil related toxins that are harmful to our people?”
When it comes to monitoring these critical offshore dimensions, the oil network said while media reports suggest equipment have been procured to monitor the offshore operations, it would appear as though the tools are “sitting idle”. In this regard the specialist suggested, “We should learn from our neighbour, Suriname, that has a fraction of our oil resources. They have 24 hour, seven days a week in-person monitoring for oil production. In fact, the former head of Suriname’s national oil company, in a recent media interview, has advised us to put in place a similar monitoring system”.