Schlumberger urges ‘zero-flare’ operations in Guyana

Feb 18, 2022 News

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By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – As the curtains were drawn on this year’s public session of the International Energy Conference, Guyana has been urged to pursue alternatives to routine flaring and challenge oil companies to zero-flaring operations.

This charge was given by a representative of Schlumberger, one of the world’s leading providers of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to a global energy industry. The company’s Emissions Business Director, Kahina Abdeli-Galinier who holds an Associate degree in Mathematics from Lycee Louis le Grand, a Masters and Engineering degree from Institut d’Optique, and a Doctorate in Physics from Ecole Polytechnique, France, said yesterday that Guyana has a unique opportunity to become a global leader in championing the zero-flare requirement, even as she pointed to the specific dangers associated with this rampant activity taking place in Guyana.
She explained during her presentation, “The oil and gas industry contributes about 30 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions and if we zoom into where they do come from…they may be coming from say methane. Methane is, I would say, a heavy greenhouse gas emission. It is about 84 times more harming to the global heating than this huge molecule because its heavier so it captures the heat much more and 57 percent is actually emitted in the oil and gas industry either from leaks that happen throughout the life cycle of operating the oil field or through operations that release the methane into the atmosphere”.
She was keen to point out that these operations include flaring, as she urged Guyana to commit to clean oil production, without this harmful activity. “There are alternatives to flaring and there is an opportunity as well to commit to what I would say, is called zero routine flaring, meaning that outside of emergency flaring that needs to happen, there is an opportunity for us to basically operate without having to flare,” Abdeli-Galinier told the conference during her virtual presentation.
She was keen to note too that it is critical for the country to implement the right technologies to avoid routine-flaring. While she did not delve into the options available to Guyana in this regard, the presenter argued that it is possible for the country to achieve a zero-flare objective.
“We believe in the fact that operating I would say in a zero methane and a zero flare operation is possible and that at the same time, we have a commitment actually to show in total transparency the actions and the data that could be required, and that could be needed actually to deliver to that journey,” she said.
To this end, the Emissions Director at Schlumberger added, “Beyond the richness of what exists in Guyana, Guyana today has the opportunity to become I would say, world leader in setting a benchmark around (flaring), yes it can operate, I would say it can do it differently because from day one the right solutions and the right technologies were properly planned and properly positioned in order to enable the extraction and the product…with almost zero carbon footprint”.
Even though the importance of achieving zero-flaring was highlighted by her, she was also keen to point out that another critical component of Guyana reaching this objective is collaboration between the government and the operators, the regulators and other stakeholders. “This requires a lot of collaboration, a lot of good leadership and a lot of trust that needs to happen,” she advised.
Presently, US oil giant ExxonMobil is being allowed to flare unlimited gas, as long as it forks out a meager sum as penalty. In fact, the oil company is paying Guyana US$45 per tonne of carbon dioxide. While appearing on a Kaieteur Radio programme late last year, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Kemraj Parsram revealed that Exxon was flaring 15 million standard cubic feet of gas per day but this is now down to six million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
The EPA Head said, “The EPA and by extension the government’s policy is zero routine flaring. Flaring is only permitted in circumstances where it is necessary to ensure safety and in cases where emergencies occur. We know there are issues with the compressor (for the Liza Destiny vessel) and we have been working with the operator (ExxonMobil).”

While he gave this reassurance in September last year, ExxonMobil is yet to operationalise its gas compressor to ensure that this dangerous activity ceases. Extensive research conducted by Kaieteur News shows that gas flaring contributes to climate change, which has serious implications for the human security and wellbeing globally. In fact, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, outlined in one of its studies, that gas flaring is actually a major source of greenhouse gases, which accelerates global warming. It was noted that flaring releases Carbon Dioxide and Methane, the two major greenhouse gases. Of these two, Methane is actually more harmful than Carbon Dioxide. It is also more prevalent in flares that burn at lower efficiency.

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