EPA did not greenlight financial study on impact of oil spill – Exxon consultant

May 04, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – Acorn International, the American Consultancy firm hired by ExxonMobil to conduct an impact study for its eighth project said Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not require the company to conduct a financial study to assess the level of financial destruction a possible oil spill from the eighth project could have.

Kaieteur News attended a public consultation at the Umana Yana, in Georgetown last week and raised concerns about its questions not being addressed in the study carried out by the consultant.

During public scoping meetings held last year, this publication had specifically asked ExxonMobil whether a financial study would be conducted to determine the likely cost a spill, given that a discharge that occurs at the Longtail project, could affect Guyana and sister Caribbean nations.

At that time, Exxon’s Projects Environmental and Regulatory Manager, Mariya Skocik explained that the company would comply with the mandate given by the EPA regarding the scope of the study.

The EPA however seems uninterested in such an assessment, as the consultant has said it received no such instruction from the EPA to study the likely cost of an oil spill.

When asked about the absence of this crucial information in the EIA, Project Manager for Acorn international, Kristy Bellows explained, “What I can tell you is that our impact assessment was done in accordance with the EPA in terms of reference. We also used things like IAIA, which is International Association of Impact Assessors, those types of things for guidance.”

She added, “We got informed stakeholders from offshore projects and did benchmarking studies. So, we’re confident with what was included in the report.”

Meanwhile, this newspaper spoke with an officer from the EPA who made it clear that there was no requirement for the regulator to approve questions raised by the public so they can be addressed in the EIA. Further, he encouraged Kaieteur News to resubmit questions in a written format that will be addressed in the revised Longtail EIA.

“The questions don’t have to be approved by us…there is an email address you can either drop it into our office or email it to us as well and right here as well, each question that is raised at each desk, they take your name and they document your question and those questions form part of the comments on the EIA. The questions will be submitted, they will have a chance to review and update the EIA as well. All the questions will be answered. It’s tabulated into a big data sheet and submitted and will be answered,” Michael (only name given) noted.

The possible cost of an oil spill has never been studied in Guyana, although ExxonMobil, through its consultant has run multiple tests to determine the distance hydrocarbons could travel in both wet and dry seasons. The EIA for the Longtail project states that an oil spill could devastate neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).

The study said the twin island could be hit the hardest, potentially affecting sensitive resources such as mangroves, manatee habitats, beaches, and forest reserves.

Acorn International outlines a detailed description of the possible transboundary impacts from the proposed development, warning that a dozen other Caribbean islands could also be affected including:  Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Barthélemy, Saba, and United States Virgin Islands.

Presently, ExxonMobil is before the Court of Appeal in Guyana fighting against citizens who previously secured a ruling from the High Court which ordered an unlimited parent company guarantee document be signed by the oil giant to protect Guyana from any additional oil spill costs not covered by the limited insurance.

Currently, the company has a U.S.$600M oil spill insurance policy in place per event and a U.S.$2B guarantee to cover costs above the insurance. Two citizens through their lawyers, headed by international lawyer, Melinda Janki argue that the company must pay for all damages caused by a spill. In the absence of the unlimited parent company guarantee, they say Guyana will be left to pay for damages not covered by the US$2.6B.

The Longtail project is expected to produce 250,000 barrels of condensate per day (bpd) with a gas production capacity of 1,200 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/day). BlackRock Midstream describes condensate as extremely light oil.

The FPSO is being specially designed to accommodate future gas export capabilities. The EIA explains, “The FPSO will be designed to separate the recovered reservoir fluids into water and gas phases. The condensate will be treated to remove impurities (e.g., sulphate and other salts) and then sent to storage tanks in the hull.”

Exxon plans to drill approximately 24 to 60 development wells, with development well drilling scheduled to begin in 2027 and possibly extending as late as 2031 and beyond. The company said installation of subsea components is slated to commence in 2028 with installation of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO), commissioning and startup planned to occur from2028 to 2031.

Longtail is expected to continue for at least 30 years according to the project schedule. Unlike previous developments focused primarily on oil, Longtail will focus on gas production. It will produce hydrocarbons from the non-associated gas fields and potential proximal resources according to the EIA.

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• EIA, EPA, Longtail, oil spill, oil spill study

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