EPA gives nation 22 days to study over 3000 pages of technical data for public consultation on ExxonM’s 6th project

Sep 06, 2023 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

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Kaieteur News – The public has been granted a mere 22 days to study over 3000 pages of technical data for ExxonMobil’s sixth oil project, Whiptail, before the company commences a series of consultations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had issued a public notice on August 20, 2023 informing that the 3636 paged document was available for public scrutiny and comments. For several days however the document was not available on the EPA’s website. On Tuesday, Executive Director of the agency, Kemraj Parsram informed that the technical difficulty was rectified and members of the public could now access the EIA.

This key document lays the foundation for the regulator to make a decision in granting a Permit for a planned development which can affect the environment and human life. The EIA pinpoints discharges that can pollute the environment, likely impacts as well as mitigative measures that can be implemented.

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Act, the document should be available to the public during the 60 days comments period which commenced on August 20, 2023.

Following the release of the EIA, ExxonMobil announced that it will commence a series of public consultations 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 at the Mahaicony Training Institute when KN Publisher, Glenn Lall was denied a response to his question on cumulative project impacts.

Kaieteur News understands that the EIA was conducted by Exxon’s well-known consultant, Environmental Resources Management (ERM). The credibility and independence of the firm has been questioned in the past by stakeholders who flagged what was described as a “long running relationship”, with ExxonMobil and the EPA.

To date, ERM has completed all of ExxonMobil’s EIAs, except for its fifth impact study, conducted by Acorn International. It is unclear why this Consultancy firm has been booted. Only in April Exxon received the nod of approval by the EPA for its fifth project, Uaru. The Uaru project is expected to cost US$12.7B and produce about 250,000 barrels of oil per day after coming on stream in 2026.

SIXTH PROJECT

Notably, ExxonMobil’s sixth and largest oil project seeks to produce oil at the Whiptail, Pinktail and Tilapia fields. According to the Project Summary, Whiptail is located in the south eastern portion of the Stabroek Block, approximately 183 km from Georgetown. Current plans include drilling via drill ships to produce oil from approximately 40 – 65 production and injection wells. The company hopes to start up the sixth development by the fourth quarter of 2027 or first quarter of 2028. It has an expected field life of at least 20 years. Exxon estimates that the sixth development would cost an average US$12.9 billion. Public meetings on the development are expected to commence on September 12, 2023 and run until September 22, 2023.

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• Consultation, oil, project, public, Sixth, Whiptail

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