‘Put check on unlimited flaring, dumping of produced water’

Apr 11, 2022 News

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— Environmentalists tell CARICOM in appeal for safe oil production activities in Guyana

Kaieteur News – Gas flaring, the dumping of produced water and oil spill insurance to cover petroleum activities are key matters that will affect not only Guyana but its Caribbean neighbours. As such, environmentalists attached to the Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN) have written to CARICOM Chair of Conference of Heads of Government and Prime Minister of Belize, Johnny Briceño, to alert the organisation of the transboundary risks to the Caribbean coasts from ExxonMobil’s oil fields, offshore Guyana, and to request that the body ensures Guyana plays its part in ensuring the oil company’s operations are carried out in a safe and environmentally sound manner.
The letter to the CARICOM leader was dated April, 8, 2022 and was shared with this publication over the weekend. In its missive, OGGN warned that Guyana’s failure to ensure that its oil and gas activities are carried out safely could devastate the region’s environment, thereby crippling its economy. Signatories of the document included former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams, Alfred Bhulai, Janette Bulkan, Darshanand Khusial, Joe Persaud, Mike Persaud, Ganga Ramdas and Charles Sugrim.
Oil spills
One of the key issues highlighted was the lack of a sound insurance policy to safeguard against the consequences of massive oil spills occurring in Guyana’s waters. The group explained, “We noted that Guyana’s combined annual oil revenues generated by the sale of its 12.5% share of produced oil and the 2% royalty received from ExxonMobil is half a billion USD, projected to rise to well above USD 1 billion/year in a couple of years. CARICOM should compare that sum with the value of beach-based tourism in the Caribbean Islands at potential risk from oil spills in the Guyanese EEZ. Jamaica’s tourism alone is around USD 1.3 billion.”
In the letter to the CARICOM leader, OGGN was keen to note that the Consultant, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), which prepared all of the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), to date, for Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, includes a map which confirms transboundary impacts. However, they pointed out that the oil spill response plan has been criticized as weak by international specialist Robert Bea, considering the problems which have arisen in United States oil fields.
Compounding the issue, was the lack of public information on transboundary engagements in respect of the common Caribbean Sea, and the complete lack of transparency exhibited by the government and Exxon when it comes to sharing information, despite the numerous requests and outcries from the international community, civic organisations and the public, the group added.
It was further explained that, “EEPGL’s breakneck drilling of exploration and production wells is currently concentrated inside the northern edge of Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This puts the potential for transboundary harms closer to several CARICOM Member States than to the Guyana shoreline.” As such, OGGN requested specific information on the steps being taken to honour the separate commitments by countries to safeguard the global environment.
Dumping of produced water
Besides an oil spill, very hot produced water, contaminated with oil and numerous toxic elements and radioactivity is being dumped into the Caribbean Sea, after partial treatment according to the environmental impact assessments compiled by ERM.
To this end, the environmentalists brought to the attention of the CARICOM representative that for the Liza 1 project alone, the volume of produced water is 100,000 barrels per day, for 20 years. “The revised environmental operating permit for Liza-1, issued on 17 January 2022, still allows a monthly average of 29 parts per million (ppm) of oil and grease in the produced water discharged from the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel Liza Destiny, and a daily maximum of 42 ppm; section 4.7. While 29 to 42 barrels of pure oil will be dumped in every million barrels of dumped water, a myriad of radioactive and toxic elements remain untreated. Based upon the EIAs projected discharge rates of d” 300,000 barrels per day (BPD) each, and ExxonMobil’s publicly stating plan to have 10 FPSOs operating by 2027, it is conservatively estimated that hundreds of thousands of barrels of pure oil would be dumped into the ocean over the life of the oil operations predicted to be at least 20 years; and this does not consider the other many operators expected to start production in the near future,” the group pointed out.
They explained that these operations, when added to a potential oil spill will compound the region’s worries when it comes to devastating ecological systems, as well as fishing and tourism industries.
Importantly, the group complained that the Permits issued by the EPA allows the discharged water to heat the surrounding ocean by up to 3 degrees Celsius above ambient water temperature at 100 metres from the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, and 55oC at the FPSO discharge point – at least twice the temperature of the ambient ocean water. To this end, they contended that the discharges are not consistent with the United Nations’ Precautionary Principle when Caribbean fish stocks are already facing critical temperature challenges.
Gas flaring
Although flaring is strictly prohibited in the Permits granted to date, flaring has been allowed to continue from the inception of operations in December 2019, resulting in a cumulative flared amount in excess of 15 billion standard cubic feet, the body reasoned.
OGGN also noted that instead of cutting down production however to reduce flaring, the government instead adjusted the Permits to legalize the flaring of unlimited quantities of gas, as long as the operator pays a paltry fee, while earning extra revenues of over 60 times that fee from not cutting production.
The environmentalists told the Belize Prime Minister that it is in full support of petroleum activities in Guyana, but holds firmly to the view that it must be done in a manner that is protective of the region’s environment, economy, safety and health.
As a consequence, they appealed to the CARICOM leader to ensure the body demands that the government take immediate actions to enforce the legal requirements of the EIAs and Environmental Permits and for it to demand that the government stops EEPGL from dumping hot, toxic and radioactively contaminated produced water into the Caribbean Sea. Additionally, the group has asked that CARICOM demands the government to reverse its decision to allow unlimited flaring for a small fine and return to the original regulation where “routine flaring or venting is prohibited”. The last request for CARICOM to engage the administration on ensuring its petroleum extraction laws and regulations are compatible with the 2016 Paris Agreement.

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