Oil company ExxonMobil and its partners have lodged the required US$2 billion security deposit with the Environmental Protection Agency, as ordered by Guyana’s Appeal Court.
Appeal Court Judge, Justice Rishi Persaud, had ordered the insurance guarantee to be in place to allay any anxiety among those who are of the belief that there could be an environmental catastrophe of some sort. Exxon Guyana’s Vice President and Business Services Manager, Phillip Rietema, during a press engagement yesterday confirmed the insurance guarantee was lodged as ordered by the court.
“Yes, the Affiliate guarantee. Yeah, it was signed, last Friday…the stay of the order was on Thursday last week and it also required us to, lodge the, the $2 billion guarantee amongst the three COVs, (co-venturers) and we were with the EPA on Friday, and, and they, they signed that and it’s been lodged,” Rietema said.
During last Thursday’s hearing, ExxonMobil was granted a stay of execution of an order by the High Court that it provide an “unlimited” financial guarantee for its Liza-1 well. Justice Persaud, in his ruling, had declared that in the interest of justice, the EPA will be granted a stay of execution of the order of the lower court which had declared that the permit issued to Exxon’s local affiliate—Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL)—would be suspended by June 10th. The stay of execution is to last until the full hearing and determination of the appeal. The parties now await a date for the hearing of the appeal before the Full Bench of the Guyana Court of Appeal.
