In absence of national standards on flaring, ExxonMobil follows own rules

Apr 07, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Almost seven years after the discovery of oil, Guyana has yet to put in place, standards that govern flaring, a process that entails the burning of natural gas and the subsequent release of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. In light of this gap in the nation’s regulatory framework, ExxonMobil’s affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) follows its own rules. This was specifically noted in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the US$10B Yellowtail Project.
EEPGL was keen to note that it considered World Bank standards and internal ExxonMobil environmental standards as references on flaring. Expounding further, the company said the World Bank has established Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) guidelines for offshore oil and gas development which is a technical reference document with examples of good environmental practices. The offshore oil and gas development guideline states that new facilities should be designed, constructed, and operated so as to avoid routine flaring of associated gas. The guideline also states that methods for controlling and reducing fugitive emissions should be considered and implemented in the design, operation, and maintenance of offshore facilities. It also demands the implementation of leak detection and repair (LDAR) programmes.
As for ExxonMobil’s internal environmental standards, EEPGL said this establishes a design approach to reduce flaring emissions, which provides guidance that facilities should be designed to avoid routine flaring of associated gas and include an evaluation for the most advantageous use of alternatives for managing associated gas that would otherwise be flared.
Since December 2019 to now, EEPGL has been flaring aboard the Liza Destiny vessel in spite of the robust rules it claims to follow. To date, the company has flared over 15 billion standard cubic feet of gas. Recent data on the extent and value of revenue Guyana has lost on this front has not been disclosed/ addressed by Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo or any other government official.
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. Of the greenhouse gases researched so far, Kaieteur News understands that the global warming potential of a kilogramme of Methane is estimated to be 21 times that of a kilogramme of Carbon Dioxide when the effects are considered.
The University of Ibadan study also noted that flaring contributes to local and regional environmental problems, such as acid rain with attendant impact on agriculture, forests and other physical infrastructure. The acid rain results in environmental degradation, which includes soil and water contamination and roof erosion. Furthermore, there have been over 250 identified toxins released from flaring, including carcinogens such as benzopyrene, benzene, carbon disulphide (CS2), carbonyl sulphide (COS) and toluene; metals such as mercury, arsenic and chromium; sour gas with Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2); Nitrogen oxides (NOx); Carbon dioxide (CO2); and methane (CH4) which contributes to the greenhouse gases.
Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) charges EEPGL US$45 per tonne of Carbon Dioxide equivalents. Outside of this arrangement, EEPGL has faced no other consequence for its failure to achieve pilot flare which is the burning of one million standard cubic feet of gas or less.

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