Judge to rule in two weeks on whether court can direct EPA to release Exxon US$2 billion guarantee for oil spills

Feb 02, 2024 Court Stories, ExxonMobil, Features / Columnists, News, Oil & Gas

Kaieteur News – Appeal Court Judge, Rishi Persaud is expected to hand down a ruling within the next two weeks on whether the Court can direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to release ExxonMobil’s US$2 billion parent company guarantee to the public.

Appeal Court Justice Rishi Persaud

Senior Counsel, Seenauth Jairam who appeared for the litigants, Frederick Collins and Godfrey Whyte told the Court on Thursday that it has inherent jurisdiction whether it is a single judge sitting in that Court.

Jairam stated “What we ask for is intertwined with your order, a conditional stay that the guarantee be lodged within 10 days thereof failing with which and the stay is dismissed. Your honour, there can’t be any obstacle, any obstacle why this guarantee is not produced. Your honour is entitled to ask under this inherent jurisdiction, you would be entitled to ask where the guarantee is.”

Jairam’s submission was in direct response to contentions raised by Attorney- at-law for the EPA, Sanjeev Datadin. Datadin’s has argued that the Court of Appeal lacks the jurisdiction to direct the EPA to release the document. Following yesterday’s oral submission, Justice Persaud announced that he will send out notices to hand down his decision within the next two weeks.

In the interim Datadin was instructed by Justice Persaud to file reply within the week. The summons to see the US$2B parent company guarantee ExxonMobil was ordered to lodge with the EPA had been filed by Jairam in association with Ms. Melinda Janki and Mrs. Abiola Wong-Innis.

The lawyers for the litigants had filed a case back in September 2022 asking the court to order EPA to secure from Exxon Guyana, unlimited liability coverage for oil spills. In so doing, Guyana would be fully protected from any hidden costs associated with an unmitigated spill from one or more projects in the Stabroek Block. On May 3, 2023, High Court Judge, Justice Sandil Kisson ruled in favour of the litigants and ordered the EPA to secure an unlimited parent and/or affiliate company guarantee for oil spills. To circumvent compliance with that order, Exxon and the EPA through their lawyers, appealed and were successful in staying Justice Kissoon’s decision.

Pending the final outcome of the appeal, Justice Persaud ordered Exxon to lodge a US$2 Billion parent and/or affiliate company guarantee. Since that order was issued on June 8, 2023, the litigants said their lawyers have been unable to secure a copy of the said guarantee for perusal. A summons was subsequently filed on November 1, 2023 for orders directing the EPA and Exxon to produce a copy of the US$2 billion guarantee.

Apart from filing the case as a means to securing full oil spill protection for Guyana, Collins and Whyte were not pleased with the existing US$600M insurance package the EPA accepted from Exxon to cover per oil spill incident. This matter was also addressed by Justice Kissoon when he had issued his landmark ruling back in May. In fact, Justice Kissoon found that the country does not have an insurance package from Exxon that meets international standards. This is despite the fact that Exxon tried tirelessly to convince the court that Guyana was in receipt of a credible insurance package from ANCON UK Ltd., an ExxonMobil subsidiary. The Energy Package Policy covers the Liza Phase One and Phase Two Projects.

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court, EPA, guarantee, oil spill, USD $2 billion

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