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AFC slams Exxon’s lawless ‘overproduction’
…says party lacks funds to take matter to court
(Kaieteur News) – Although its previous Leader is a renowned Attorney, the Alliance For Change (AFC) says it is financially constrained and would challenge ExxonMobil in Court if it had resources, as the company continues to breach the design rates on all of the vessels producing oil.
During its first press conference for the year, the AFC on Friday through its Executive Member, Dr. Vincent Adams raised concerns over the company’s plans to increase oil production at the fourth project, Yellowtail.
AFC Executive, Cathy Hughes
He argued, “They have ramped up production on all four of the operating projects above what is required by the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) which is the law, which means that they are illegally producing above the safe operating limit.” Dr. Adams told reporters that this breach is not only “reckless” and “dangerous” but “lawless”. As a former executive at the Department of Energy in the United States, he argued that Exxon’s operations could be shut down for attempting any such activity which is permitted by this administration. To this end, he questioned the capacity of the Ministry of Natural Resources to determine the safety of pushing production beyond the design rates of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSOs).
He believes that breaching the design limits of the vessels as outlined in the EIAs endangers Guyana as the country’s chance of an oil spill significantly increases while there is still limited financial protection as the government continues to fight against the unlimited parent company guarantee.
In response to a question from this newspaper on whether the party would challenge the alleged illegality in Court, another AFC executive member, Catherine Hughes said if the party had the resources, it would willingly do so. “If the Alliance For Change had adequate resource or financial support I am convinced that we would be going to the Courts for all the injustices that we see that this government is meting out to the people of Guyana,” she explained.
Hughes said the party “unfortunately do not have the range of financial resources” but it remains willing to put the issue on its agenda since it holds national significance. “We would be willing to put it on our agenda and since it is a national issue, maybe we can get companies, individuals, that will volunteer to work with the Alliance For Change to take this matter to the Court,” Hughes noted.
Nevertheless, the she said that the party expects Exxon, like other multinationals, local businesses and citizens, including government, to uphold the law.
For his part, Dr. Adams believes challenging Exxon, the EPA and government on this issue would be an easy win. According to him, “It’s clear law. The EIA is law. The EIA is tied to the EPA Act…debottlenecking is nowhere in any lingo, law or anything else but they are using this debottlenecking stuff which is basically to make adjustment to the system- the pipes, the valves, etcetera.”
Further, he added that the EIA sets the safety limit based on technical assessments and breaching that limit is illegal which would require adjusting the law or the EIA, which requires reopening the legal process outlined in the Act.
To date, ExxonMobil has conducted debottlenecking activities on three of four FPSOs in the Stabroek Block. Payara, Exxon’s third project which commenced production on November 14, 2023, was designed to produce 220,000 (bpd) but Exxon has increased production to over 260,000 bpd.
Similarly, both Liza One and Liza Two are producing above the design capacity. The Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for the two projects indicate that the Liza One and Liza Two projects were designed to safely operate at 120,000 and 220,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), respectively. Recent data on the Ministry of Natural Resources website indicates that the two projects are producing about 130,000 bpd and 263,000 bpd.
The company has submitted plans to the government, seeking approval to increase Yellowtail production from 263,000 bpd to 290,000 bpd.
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