On June 16, the High Court will rule on whether the government and ExxonMobil will be allowed to join the litigation challenging a decision made by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue a permit to ExxonMobil for its Gas to Energy (GTE) project.
A few weeks ago, Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry heard submissions from Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC and Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo for Exxon’s local affiliate—Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL)—who argued that they ought to be able to intervene in the proceedings as they have interests therein.
With the project investment valued at a whopping US$1.7 billion, the AG argued, the government has more than a mere interest as it had entered into an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the construction of a 300 MW power plant to be constructed at Wales.