‘ExxonMobil has free rein over Guyana’

Apr 07, 2022 News

---

…Opposition calls for independent oversight

By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – As Guyana continues to gain experience in managing the oil sector and with fresh recommendations from the recently concluded International Energy Conference and Expo, the Shadow Oil and Gas Minister, David Patterson is again highlighting the importance of the country independently verifying the operations of oil giant, ExxonMobil, rather than depending on the company for reports of its performance when it comes to compliance with environmental permits.

In an exclusive interview with Kaieteur News on Wednesday, the former Minister of Public Infrastructure, explained that Guyana is presently in a bad shape, as it is depending on the developer to report instances of flaring, oil spills, waste water treatment, and adherence to other aspects of the permit, including resolving complaints it received from the public, all without proper independent oversight.
Patterson said, “It is self-regulating. They have become their own judge, jury (and) executioner by just reporting to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) what is happening. We have always said that the EPA or any of the other agencies should not be depending on Exxon to report issues, and this arose after Exxon’s representative said only a teaspoon of oil has been spilled but that should not be coming from Exxon. We should be the one there, the EPA should be there monitoring all the systems independently to determine all these things.”
He went on to explain the detriment of Guyana’s reliance on the oil company when it comes to such matters. In fact he urged that the sector’s independent monitoring be increased, while adding, that the operators must be held accountable.
To this end, he hinted that the Opposition will soon be filing a Motion in the National Assembly that seeks to ensure that the oil companies adhere to international best practices, when it comes to the treatment of waste water, prior to its dumping in the country’s waters.
“My next motion that I will be bringing is on waste water, I will be bringing that to Parliament and of course I didn’t want to bring all together because of how the Speaker operates, but the treatment of waste water has to be to international standards,” the former Minister related.
Patterson argued, “There is no monitoring whatsoever, not only for Exxon but for the entire oil and gas industry. We have at least 40 boats going out there every single day. All of these boats have waste water, not only from drilling but from domestic sources such as sewage and things like that. They are all supposed to be treated as well and they have been saying, like they have been saying with the flaring, that the ocean is so big that what they are polluting is so small, that their pollution is insignificant but that is not what the world standard is. You have to treat it to a safe and drinkable level before you deposit it into the ocean.”
He pointed out that there have already been cries from fishermen across the country, who are suffering from decreased catches, which may or may not be related to the oil company’s disregard for the environment.
To this end, he stressed the need for safeguards to be put in place to ensure such impacts are avoided, which can trickle down to other parts of the Caribbean, which already seem to be facing similar challenges.
“We are speaking about climate change and global warming, the waste water that they are dumping in the sea is very hot and that can contribute but we don’t know to what level and what it can do in the long term so we have to address all of these issues now,” the former Minister encouraged.
In the new Environmental Permit, several additional features have been added to improve the structure, but Patterson has pointed out the need for the EPA to play a greater role in monitoring the company’s offshore operations.
For instance, the Permit issued for Exxon’s fourth project, the Yellowtail development explains that the EPA will be keeping a watchful eye on the way in which ExxonMobil receives and responds to complaints from the public, regarding its operations impacts.
Section 1.4.1 of the Permit states “The Permit Holder shall maintain records of environmental grievances and report on the numbers, nature and how these were or will be addressed. This information must be provided in the Monthly Report as required by condition 13.11”.
Section 1.4.2 goes on to add, “The Annual Report required by Condition 13.10 of this Permit, must contain a summary of the environmental grievances and management, including actions taken, challenges and or constraints in addressing same.”
Previously, the oil company was permitted to resolve complaints received in a private manner, as there was no explicit condition of this nature in the three Permits issued prior.
However, Patterson believes that Exxon should not be receiving its own complaints and determines how to solve those. Rather, he is of the view that the regulator body should be the recipient of those complaints who would then direct Exxon and the other oil and gas companies how to resolve those matters, in keeping with the country’s laws and standard best practices.
He reasoned, “Complaints are not supposed to be received by Exxon. They should go to the EPA and forwarded to Exxon for a response. Right now we are giving Exxon free rein on every single area, on every single area and the new (regulation) they are just band aids. Exxon reporting how or what they have done to resolve it should not be the case. It should be the EPA writing to say these are the standards, these are our laws and this is what is required (and) this is how you should do it.”

 

---

---