Latest update April 16th, 2026 12:40 AM
Guyana’s oil race car
Editorial…
Kaieteur News- Those who are into racecars are high risk operators. High risk brings honorable recognition and rich returns. A racecar performing at high speeds is how a senior ExxonMobil manager described Guyana’s oil wealth, and how his company is coaxing every element of acceleration out of it.
“Like a race car that blazes from zero to 60 in just a few seconds, Guyana’s oil industry has ramped up – and ramped up safely, I’ll add – from zero barrels to 650,000 per day in the five-and-a-half years since we started. That’s really fast, and we are not stopping anytime soon.” Speaking with all the confidence and swagger of an Indy500 driver, or a Formula I veteran, was Hunter Farris, Senior Vice president for Deepwater at ExxonMobil Upstream Company. We at this paper are weighing whether what Farris just delivered was an ExxonMobil commercial, or he jumped into the realm of the supernatural. Oil is a risky business, one where many things can go wrong, and there was the ExxonMobil manager chattering away in breathless racing car terms.
“Zero to 60 in just a few seconds” should alarm Guyanese, who know nothing about the risks that ExxonMobil is taking offshore. Guyana doesn’t have the knowledge, doesn’t do the kind of oversight necessary, to ensure that the company’s operations are well within stated safety limits. No Guyanese should be comforted by Farris’s assurance of “ramped up safely…” Putting too much confidence in what ExxonMobil sells, leaving it to its own devices, is a recipe for trouble, of which we hope there is none. What else is any sane company spokesperson is expected to say “ramped up” unsafely? “Ramped up” riskily, and expose the company to jeopardy for that slip, for that probable truth, of which Guyanese leaders are clueless, and even more careless?
Mr. Farris is right, with the record supporting his words. ExxonMobil has ramped up daily production, then ratcheted it up again, seemingly at will, and without any restraining hand from the Government of Guyana. ExxonMobil has sped up its operations and production levels, at racecar speeds. From all indications, the company hasn’t been overly concerned about cautionary flags, since all that it is interested in is collecting another checkered flag, the one given to winners. “Zero to 60 in just a few seconds” is what it has been, and just like the ExxonMobil man said.
This is what the Guyana Government, and its one-man oil management team, Bharrat Jagdeo, should prioritize interest and energies. That is, to be vigilant and restrain the company from its likely reckless throwing caution to the winds mentality. Instead, the PPPC Government and its oil super minister Jagdeo prioritize stilling the voices that highlight the dangers that this country face. Unofficial Guyanese watchdogs are targeted by government officials, while ExxonMobil is given a free hand, the freest, to carry on however it pleases, regardless of the risks involved.
Hunter Farris was so excited that he couldn’t help himself (or didn’t care to), so he let the cat out of the bag. “We moved really fast and we are not stopping anytime soon.” Meaning, that Guyanese can expect to hear announcements from ExxonMobil about higher and higher production levels in shorter and shorter time spans. The reality is that the more oil that is produced daily, the higher the profits for the company to report to its many stakeholders. Whatever the speeds and whatever the risks that have to be taken, ExxonMobil is mentally geared to full steam ahead. The company was just handed a priceless gift by the PPPC Government.
Twist it or turn it, ExxonMobil has just been given the greenlight to operate however it chooses on a virtually liability-free environment. No financial consequences attached to ExxonMobil’s parent, should there be a massive oil spill in its Guyana operations. The recent Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Responsibility bill passed in Guyana’s parliament confirmed how much the PPPC Government is enslaved to the will of Guyana’s American oil master. With ExxonMobil handed a blank check on how it can operate offshore, “zero to 60 in just a few seconds” now looks pedestrian. ExxonMobil is ready for zero to 100 (or 180) in less seconds.
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