Exxon’s consultant promises in-depth studies for fisheries sector on 5th project

Aug 31, 2022 News

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Kaieteur News – Acorn International, ExxonMobil’s new Consultant that will be conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the oil giant’s fifth offshore development, has promised an in-depth analysis of the marine environment.

In its Final Terms and Scope for Uaru+ uploaded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday, the Texas-based group said the “baseline shall examine the direct and indirect contributions of the Project area to biodiversity health and human wellbeing with an emphasis on current users or beneficiaries. Further, the EIA will need to provide information on ecosystem services and identify priority ecosystem services within the AOI (Area of Influence).”

Notably, field studies shall be undertaken as necessary to fully establish an appropriate social baseline, and to update information that may no longer be current, Acorn pointed out, while assuring that appropriate data gathering methods shall be used commensurate with the level of detail required to determine risk to socioeconomic and cultural components.

To this end, the Consultant said it will determine or estimate “the degree of habitat degradation likely to occur both in qualitative and quantitative terms (i.e., extent of habitat degradation or reduction as well as the reduction in biodiversity and available ecological niches), wider impacts on marine ecology of the study area, as effects are transferred along the food chain, include impact to migration pathways for fauna over production life of the field.”

Meanwhile, Acorn International explained that its study will include but not be limited to, the effect of the discharges from the project on marine water quality, Potential discharges include but are not limited to produced water, sulphate removal, ultra filtration, and wash water processing brines, grey and black water, ballast water exchange, drill cuttings and muds, as well as oil spills.

This assessment will be supported by modelling analyses for produced water dispersion to assist in understanding the potential impacts of the routine discharge of produced water, cooling water dispersion modelling study to assess the change in temperature and the residual chlorine concentration in the cooling water stream, and a sulphate removal modelling study to address changes in environmental values and sensitivities on a seasonal basis.

As it regards underwater noise, the group said it will “estimate the potential for increased underwater noise from all phases of the operation. Acceptable underwater noise standards applied to the various aspects of the operation shall be outlined in the EIA. The impact analysis shall present, assess and discuss potential impacts of Project generated underwater sound in the PDA (Project Development Area), with regards to biological marine life in the water column and must be accompanied by relevant underwater sound analysis. This analysis shall include different sound levels and thresholds for sound sensitive marine taxa (e.g., marine mammals, marine turtles and fish).”

Sound will be generated offshore by the operation of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, installation of the FPSO vessel, which includes the associated installation and support vessels,operation of a drill ship and underwater pile driving of anchor mooring piles at the FPSO location among others.

About Uaru+

In its project summary that was submitted to the EPA, Exxon’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EPPGL) which operates the Stabroek concession said the Uaru Project will be located in the eastern portion of the block, approximately 200 km from Georgetown and amid previous Stabroek Projects.
Current plans include drilling via drillships to produce oil from approximately 40-76 wells. Production is expected to begin between the fourth quarter of 2026 and the second quarter of 2027 with an expected field life of at least 20 years. EEPGL said the production facilities to be installed include subsea equipment attached to the seafloor as well as processing equipment on the ocean’s surface known as a Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel. EEPGL said this subsea equipment is installed at approximately 1,450 – 1,950 m of water depth while noting that the main components of the subsea kit include the following: production tree, production manifold, flowlines, risers, and umbilicals. The subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines are commonly referred to as SURF.

The anticipated production rate for the FPSO ranges between approximately 220,000 barrels and 275,000 barrels of oil per day. The vessel will be capable of storing approximately two million barrels of oil.

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