Exxon now has 14 days before flaring fee kicks in - EPA Head

Exxon now has 14 days before flaring fee kicks in – EPA Head

Dec 12, 2025 News

(Kaieteur News) – ExxonMobil Guyana now has 14 days to address flaring issues before the company faces tax penalties, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Khemraj Parsram has said.

Parsram was referring to the new environmental permit issued to Exxon’s 7^th oil project – Hammerhead. The new permit has 14 provisions meant to address flaring offshore Guyana. There are also an additional eight provisions that speak to emergency events.

He said that the provisions are proof that the country has come a long way, in terms of improving on its permit conditions, while noting that air quality in Guyana is non-negotiable.

Exxon now has 14 days before flaring fee kicks in - EPA Head

Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Khemraj Parsram

The EPA’s mandate is to ensure that the air citizens breathe is protected and according to Parsram, Guyana has always had a good history and record of excellent air quality. Therefore, as part of issuing permits to authorise and regulate the industry, he said the environment has to be considered and it must be protected.

“Now Guyana also has international obligations under the climate change convention for example, so our record there has been you know undoubtedly very rigid and strong. So, we have to maintain our air quality. Now any development, not just oil and gas, any emissions coming from these development activities must be regulated to ensure that they’re within standards,” Parsram explained.

The EPA head reminded that there was always prohibition on routine flaring, and from the start of the oil projects. Instead of burning the gas continuously as it came up as some countries do, Guyana told the operator and its partners that they are to re-inject the gas to assist with well pressurisation.

However recently, the option was given to bring the gas ashore therefore maximising the uses of the gas resources. Nevertheless, there are what he called “upset conditions” and one such instance was experienced with Liza One.

“They had a problem with the gas compressor and it took some time to get that fixed, and so the time taken for that we learn from it, and we ensure that in subsequent permits that there is a redundancy built in that,” he highlighted.

Parsram explained that there is often time just one gas compressor along with two or three other equipment that help with providing a quick fix situation. Notwithstanding, the key is still having preventative measures to ensure that if there is a need for flaring, it is efficiently done. In this regard, emissions will not have a number of dangerous pollutants that will be problematic as it can easily be dispersed.

“…and so those measures were put in place to make sure that flaring is prevented, and not just in terms of the efficiency, but when there’s a need for flaring there is also the aspect of how you deal with that, and there is it’s not just a carte blanch; You can’t do what you want, you have to seek approval from us and we set a stipulated timeline and date for that. So, 14 days maximum. So, if you know to address your situation, you have that time to play with it,” he further explained.

Parsram reminded that there is also a tax added on flaring, so this is now serving as a deterrent to indefinite flaring. With this cost attached developers are encouraged to fix issues right away, but still upset conditions will occur.

“There will be emergency situations. So, in those conditions we have to define clearly what those upset conditions mean. What are the circumstances around it? What’s the approval mechanism, and then we allow that excess flaring first zero routine flaring upset condition. Yes, we can allow you to fix the situation. If you exceed that time, then it’s taxed to get you to ‘hurry up’ in local language,” he added.

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EPA, Exxon, fee, Flaring, Khemraj Parsram

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