Guyana’s top policymaker on oil and gas has not seen Exxon’s US$2B guarantee

Feb 23, 2024 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

Kaieteur News – Vice President (VP) and, top policy maker on the oil and gas sector, Bharrat Jagdeo disclosed on Thursday that he has not seen the $US2B oil spill guarantee reportedly lodged with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by ExxonMobil Guyana.

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo

The VP was at the time responding to questions posed by this publication at his weekly press conference on the matter.

Kaieteur News asked the VP: “You said we have a $2B guarantee. You would agree with us, that Exxon has a track record of being dishonest in their dealings with other countries. In light of this, have you seen that guarantee for yourself and are you comfortable with the terms attached?”

Jagdeo responded, “No I have not. I said this is an EPA matter. I have not seen the guarantee.”

He explained that in cases like these, “you have to understand jurisdiction.”

Further, Jagdeo told Kaieteur News that the EPA has assured that the form the guarantee takes makes it enforceable. “It was negotiated, they had their lawyers involved, and therefore it is in that manner,” Jagdeo said at the press conference.

Exxon Mobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) held its first press conference for 2024 earlier this month, and Country Manager, Alistair Routledge was asked by this publication, why the company has been hesitant to share the guarantee it has lodged.

“On the guarantee, we had worked the guarantee in advance of the actions that took place in Court and so we were ready as soon as the Judge signalled that a guarantee that had a value on it is what was required then collectively ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC had our guarantees ready to meet our $2B commitment and that’s what we lodged,” Routledge said.

The US$2B oil spill guarantee was ordered by Justice Rishi Persaud in 2023, as the Court of Appeal hears the case for full liability coverage to protect Guyana financially from costs associated with an oil spill.

In January, the EPA’s lawyer Sanjeev Datadin told the National Assembly during the 2024 budget debates that, “They [the EPA] are required to keep a register, a ledger of all those documents submitted and it is available for anyone, including the Honourable Member Mr. Shurwayne Holder to go to their office between normal business hours and he will be allowed to see it,” said Datadin.

On the contrary, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told a Kaieteur News reporter that the ExxonMobil US$2 billion guarantee lodged at the EPA could be viewed once a formal request is submitted to the agency.

However, the EPA subsequently issued a statement stating the US$2B guarantee would not be made public unless the Court so decides.

On Monday, Justice of Appeal Rishi Persaud ruled that the Court of Appeal has no jurisdiction to summon the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to produce evidence that ExxonMobil Guyana has lodged the $2 billion oil spill guarantee with the agency, as ordered by the Court.

In his ruling on Monday, Justice Persaud concurred with the contentions raised by Datadin. He held that under Order Two; Rule 16 of the Court of Appeal Act, a single judge cannot make an Order of Discovery for the respondents to produce the evidence that the Order was complied with. The Court held further that the judge does not have the inherent jurisdiction to enquire into his own Order.

Sanjeev Datadin, the lawyer representing the State-owned EPA, had challenged the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal to order the agency to show proof that ExxonMobil Guyana had lodged the $2 billion oil spill parent guarantee.

Datadin raised the issue of jurisdiction in the case where two Guyanese, Frederick Collins and Godfrey Whyte, challenged the oil company over the failure to provide unlimited liability coverage to Guyana in the event of oil spills.

Pending the final outcome of an appeal to stay the Order by High Court Justice, Sandil Kissoon, that ExxonMobil Guyana provides unlimited liability coverage for oil spills, Court of Appeal judge, Justice Rishi Persaud had instructed ExxonMobil to lodge a US$2 Billion oil spill guarantee.

Since that Order was issued on June 8, 2023, the litigants said their lawyers were 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 ExxonMobil to produce a copy of the US$2 billion oil spill guarantee.

The summons to see the US$2B [interim] guarantee that ExxonMobil was ordered to lodge, was filed by Senior Counsel, Seenath Jairam in association with Attorneys Ms. Melinda Janki and Mrs. Abiola Wong-Innis.