Exxon to begin public meetings for 6th oil project with no further benefits to Guyana

Sep 04, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News- ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) will commence a series of public meetings on its sixth deepwater project, Whiptail on September 12, 2023.

In a public notice published in Sunday’s Kaieteur News, the oil giant explained, “ExxonMobil Guyana Limited is progressing its sixth offshore project in the Stabroek Block – the Whiptail Development Project. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) together with the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Whiptail Development Project were submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for evaluation and recommendations.”

To this end, the company noted, “Face-to-face sessions will be held to provide information on the Whiptail Project, the EPA’s Environmental Authorisation process, and the findings from the assessment to support public awareness.”

Notably, one session will be facilitated in Regions Three and Four, the two most populated regions in the country. Exxon’s first meeting will be held in Region Three, at the Leonora Technical Institute, West Coast Demerara, commencing at 10:00hrs.

On September 13, 2023, Exxon will engage residents of Region Four at the Umana Yana, Kingston, Georgetown from 17:00hrs.

Two meetings are scheduled for Region One, one in Region Two, two in Region Five and one in Region Six.

Even as the developer prepares to engage Guyanese on its sixth offshore project, it would be poignant to note that concerns were raised during the last round of consultations that the public was sidelined at the events, as the company refused to answer specific questions or was simply unprepared to respond in some instances. Some stakeholders even described the process as a sham.

It was during the scoping meetings for the sixth project held in February this year that moderator of the session, Alex Graham directed officials from the company not to respond to questions raised by Kaieteur News, since he found it irrelevant to the specific project. Those questions pertained to the options for use of excess gas from the project and the insurance policy in place for oil spills.

At a second session, held in Leonora, this newspaper’s senior journalist was prevented from interrogating ExxonMobil officials on a series of issues since she challenged them on misleading the public on the impacts of the project.

The lynching of hardcore questions was evident for a third time yesterday at the Mahaicony Training Institute when KN Publisher, Glenn Lall was denied a response to his question on cumulative project impacts.“Has ExxonMobil or its consultant, ERM Guyana, conducted a cumulative impact assessment on the damage and destruction that would befall Guyana, and its citizens? That is my question. I have some more,” is what Lall said.

Graham who was the moderator initially indicated that Lall’s question would be answered. He was keen to note however that there is no time to entertain further questions. The time allotted to question and answer segment he said was nearly exhausted.

Though Lall insisted that he has a few more pertinent questions, Graham maintained, “No, you are done speaking.”

In protest of the clear demonstration of censorship, Lall smacked his left hand against his thigh twice and insisted that his questions are answered since that was the purpose of the public scoping meeting.

Graham at this point shut down the entire meeting as he instructed Exxon’s Projects Manager, Anthony Jackson not to answer the question or any other posed by Lall.

KN Publisher commented following the conclusion of the meeting, the country is heading for dark times if this is the level of treatment that will be meted out to the independent press by a Guyanese moderator.

Exxon’s sixth project, as previously reported, will target the Whiptail, Pinktail and Tilapia discoveries, estimated to hold over one billion barrels of oil resources. The project is poised for startup in 2027-2028 and will produce between 220,000 and 275,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

The company submitted an application to the EPA back in January for the project. According to the Project Summary, Whiptail is located in the south eastern portion of the Stabroek Block, approximately 183km from Georgetown. Current plans include drilling via drill ships to produce oil from approximately 40 – 65 production and injection wells.

This publication reported that Whiptail is pegged at US$12.9 billion. Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo recently confirmed that no further fiscal increases such as a higher royalty rate would be sought for this sixth project.

 

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• Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, EEPGL, Environmental Protection Agency, ExxonMobil, meetings, oil, Whiptail

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