Low hanging fruits

Sep 12, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – We congratulate the PPP/C Government for taking the bull by the horns and ordering oil companies to pay Guyanese within 30 to 45 days (KN September 10).

It is low hanging fruit, easily picked, and needed to get done, with the stroke of a pen. We would be similarly pleased to commend this PPP/C Government and its leaders if and when they take the proper actions on other things and in other areas related to this oil wealth of ours.

One such area is an over-reliance on data provided by oil companies operating offshore Guyana. There must be the determination to know for ourselves, through independent and trusted means (non-company) all that is happening in oil operations. Sources cannot be that of ExxonMobil, Hess, CNOOC, or any of the others. We really haven’t the faintest idea as to how much oil ExxonMobil and partners are producing and shipping, and how much is being used back into the wells. Guyana is too dependent on information coming from what ExxonMobil says it is doing out there. It is the equivalent of giving a partner a loaded gun to point at the nation’s head, while not arming ourselves in a same manner. This is exposing ourselves too much with this degree of dependency, and it is tempting partners to take advantage of us, by asking for trouble like this.

Now there is a report of an oil spill (KN September 11), which ExxonMobil claims to be all of one barrel. In the big picture of oil spills, one barrel doesn’t qualify to be a spill or leak, but something like sweating at the seals and gaskets. But whether it is one barrel or a hundred, we still don’t know with accuracy and confidence what went on out there. In fact, we didn’t even know in our own time since we had to wait for ExxonMobil to report to us what happened, when it did, where it did, and how many gallons of oil leaked. We don’t have to be veteran oil operators, or industry experts, to appreciate that this country is not in a good position. There is simply too much that we are ignorant of, and too much that we have to wait on for ExxonMobil to disclose to us.

We at this publication will go further. It took too long for the citizens of this country to learn that an oil spill occurred offshore. As we understand it, this small spill happened on Friday, September 9th. Guyanese ought to be made aware of this immediately, regardless of how many barrels are involved. Once the Minister of Natural Resources and the man in charge of the nation’s oil, the Vice President, are informed, all Guyana has to be in the loop, and also within hours. There is too much at stake for any oil company or any political leader to play around with this.

If the facts are that it is, indeed, only a single barrel of oil leaked, then we can exhale slowly, and thank our stars. Nevertheless, it is still 42 gallons of crude oil leaked into our waters, and we need to get to the bottom of this. We must know the how, the why, and the who, and also what failed, and what is in place to prevent this from happening again. We have been assured before by ExxonMobil people, and our own people, including parliamentarians, about the remoteness and rarity of an oil spill. ExxonMobil has often spoken about how robust their systems are, but here it is that there is a one-barrel spill. It is one barrel too many, and opens the door to any kind of interpretation, or anxiety, about what ExxonMobil and its friends are doing out there.

We could care less about being labelled alarmists, but other countries were sailing quietly along, until the bottom gave way. We point to Peru as the most recent example, and how that country is struggling to make Repsol own up and deliver on its obligations. It is expected that oil companies will minimise failures and exposures, but what enrages is when local politicians join on the side of the foreign oil companies to mislead their citizens.

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Low hanging fruits

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Low hanging fruits

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