EXXONMOBIL’S Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs, Deedra Moe, stated, on Wednesday, that the oil and gas company is doing all it can within its commitments to reduce flaring, offshore Guyana.

She told the media that though concerns have been raised, it should be noted that the reduced and but current flaring is related to project startup and ExxonMobil intends to learn from its challenges to improve where it can, moving forward.

Reports are that ExxonMobil flared over 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas due to challenges during production start-up. These challenges have since been alleviated with the commencement of the re-injection of gas.

“As we increased production in mid-May, we encountered some issues with the compressor system during a performance test. Repairs were initially delayed in order to observe travel restrictions and safety and isolation protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Key specialist technicians are required to repair the units, but must first pass through travel restrictions and undergo a two-week COVID-19 screening process,” Moe explained.

She said that ExxonMobil is working to have the equipment repaired, as quickly and as safely possible, and final commissioning of the gas handling system is being done on the Liza Destiny.

Throughout the process, Moe informed the media that the oil and gas company has been in regular communication with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DE). It has also reduced its levels of flaring which remains necessary during the start-up phase.

The Senior Director stated: “We are doing all we can to repair the equipment safely in order to complete final commission of the system. As we have said, we have also reduced crude oil production to lessen the amount of gas being flared. ExxonMobil’s commitment to minimising the environmental impact of its projects is reflected by our design of the Liza Destiny and Liza Phase 1 project. Our operations in Guyana will not utilise routine flaring. We are currently still in the start-up period for Liza Phase 1 which involves temporary flaring to fully commission the gas compression and injection systems, for safe operations as outlined in the approved Environmental Impact Assessment and permit.”

Back in 2019, ExxonMobil had explained to media operatives that for the first period after ‘first oil’ there would be initial start-up flaring – authorised by the EPA – which occurs during the commissioning and initial start-up phases of the FPSO when gas and liquids are introduced into new facilities and equipment.

This flaring, it said, would not continue as routine and will only take place again in the case of an emergency whereby flaring will be used to immediately de-pressure the facility as part of a shut-down process to reduce risk.

“The current situation is a temporary, unplanned event related to project startup. Across our operations, ExxonMobil has programmes in place to improve operations integrity, thus reducing downtime and upsets that can result in flaring. Additionally, we are capturing lessons so we can apply to the Liza Unity and other projects moving forward,” Moe added.