–Indian specialists to boost Guyana’s institutional capacity

VICE-PRESIDENT, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, on Friday, said based on the existing arrangements, Guyana has the necessary capabilities to deal with a potential oil spill from offshore the oil and gas production.

The government is also in the process of increasing the capacity of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deal with this possible disaster through an arrangement with specialists from India.

The Vice President spoke during a press conference held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Georgetown.

As he highlighted developments in Guyana’s energy sector, the Vice President highlighted that that Guyana already has several safety standards that are even higher than that of many other oil-producing countries.

“We believe, based on the existing arrangements in place, that we have a capability to deal with the oil spill now. We have evolved the contracts and this capacity has to grow. We’re bringing some specialists from India too to work in the EPA in precisely this area. We met with the people; they’re going to come in to strengthen that department,” the Vice President explained.

Dr. Jagdeo reminded the public that it was the government that mandated that a capping stack be based in the country. A capping stack is a critical piece of equipment that is used in the case of an oil spill. The cap placed over the blown-out well, to stop or redirect the flow of hydrocarbons and to buy time for engineers to permanently seal the well in the case of a spill.
According to reports, Guyana is the only country in the region with the critical oil spill capping equipment on hand.

“In the last permit [the EPA mandated that Exxon] has to have one in the country and have a subscription to an international company that can supply capping stack in case you have a spill. Very few countries in this region have that, so those are progressive measures to deal with any possibility if you have a spill,” Dr. Jagdeo explained.

The requirement for the capping stack was implemented as a key provision in ExxonMobil’s permit for the massive Yellowtail project offshore. Yellowtail is the company’s fourth project, with production is expected to begin in 2025.

Aside from the capping stack, each oil production project being developed offshore by Exxon Mobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) has oil spill insurance coverage of up to US$600 million per event. The permit granted also provides that holders are liable for the full extent of any environmental damage caused and the cleaning up of any oil spill that may occur.

The full liability is supposed to be backed by Exxon’s parent company guarantee. The Vice President, however, expressed his concerns that the parent guarantee is not yet in place.
“The EPA, they have to get the parent company guarantee. I have expressed concerns myself. We are building capacity in these sectors, some of the concerns are also our concern, the parent guarantee should have been done already,” the Vice President shared.

Though the EPA is still working on the parent guarantee, since the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) has been in government, several positive changes were implemented in the environmental permits.

“Many countries in the world, in the developed world don’t have standards like us here. We have a no-flaring policy. The oil and gas companies in the early permit never had a cradle to grave responsibility for management of waste. Many countries in the developed world discharge their water just like that into same Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. We have higher standards than many of these countries,” the Vice President pointed out.

Under the no-flaring policy oil companies are not allowed any flaring beyond the commissioning period, and if flaring should occur beyond the commissioning period, the company will have to pay a fine based on the amount of harmful carbon dioxide they emit through flaring.