ExxonMobil’s sixth proposed project, Whiptail, could potentially emit greenhouse gases and possibly impact offshore marine species according to its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
The 3,636-page document was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for review and public comment. In accordance with Section 11(10) of the Environmental Protection Act, Cap, 20:05 (as amended in 2005), members of the public have sixty days from the date of publication of the notice (August 20,2023), to review the EIA/EIS and make written submissions to the Environmental Protection Agency”.
The EIA outlined the possibilities of 1) greenhouse gas emissions during production operations); 2) critically endangering offshore marine fish species during drilling and installation as a result of impulsive and non-impulsive noise as well as changes in water quality; and 3) negatively affecting marine turtles during the drilling programme as a result of potential exposure when in proximity to impulsive sound sources during the performance of Vertical Seismic Profiling.
Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary, filed an application for Environmental Authorization with the EPA on December 15, 2022, for oil and gas development of the US$12.9 billion project.
The Project will consist of drilling approximately 33 to 72 development wells (including production and water/gas injection wells); installation and operation of Subsea, Umbilicals, Risers, and Flowlines (SURF) equipment; installation and operation of a Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel; and ultimately, Project decommissioning. Onshore logistical support facilities and marine/aviation services will be used to support each stage of the Project.
While much of the installation and production operations activity will be offshore, the Project will also use onshore infrastructure, including, but not limited to, shorebases, warehouses, storage and pipe yards, fabrication facilities, fuel supply facilities, and waste management facilities. Such infrastructure will be used to support drilling, installation, production, and decommissioning operations. Additional logistical support may be provided by others outside of Guyana, as determined by the Project
The EPA, guided by the Environmental Advisory Board, has the responsibility for granting or denying authorisation and determining conditions, if need be, under which to grant authorization.
On review of EEPGL’s application, the EPA determined that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was required. The purpose of the EIA is to present the necessary information on, and analysis of, potential and predicted impacts that EEPGL’s proposed Project may have if it were to be implemented, in order to enable the EPA to make an informed decision on EEPGL’s application.
The Project will be located in the eastern portion of the Stabroek Block, approximately 195 kilometers northeast of Georgetown and amid previous Stabroek projects. It is expected to employ up to 540 people during the drilling and installation phase and between 100 to 180 persons during the production operations stage.
According to the EPA, all EEPGL activities and operations must be designed and conducted in alignment with good international industry practices, with numerous embedded controls incorporated to minimise environmental and social impacts.
EEPGL noted that it considered a range of alternatives for various aspects of the Project, along with the potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts associated with these alternatives, in alignment with the Guyana Environmental Protection Act 1996, Cap. 20:05 (as amended in 2005).
The Project is located in a deepwater, offshore marine environment whose physical, chemical, and geological characteristics are consistent with oceanographic conditions in the region as a whole. Biological resources in the Stabroek Block include marine birds and other migratory birds, marine mammals (whales and dolphins), marine turtles, and pelagic and demersal marine fish (including some migratory species).
Protected species such as birds, marine mammals, marine turtles, and fish exist in the Stabroek Block. Although sensitive benthic features (cold-water corals) are known to exist in the block, they are not known to exist in the immediate vicinity of the work area.
As the Project is located offshore, the socioeconomic activities with which the Project has the potential to interact are limited to vessel traffic and artisanal and commercial fishing. Certain key socioeconomic aspects of the onshore Area of Influence (the six coastal regions of Guyana) may potentially be impacted by the Project. These aspects include waste management infrastructure, ground and air transportation facilities, housing resources, marine infrastructure, and medical facilities.
The potential impacts of planned Project activities were assessed based on the interactions between these activities and portions of the environmental and socioeconomic receptors affected. Oil spill modelling indicates that transboundary impacts could potentially occur, assuming no mitigation measures were implemented. The modelling results for these scenarios indicate that there is the potential for an unmitigated oil spill to reach three main geographic regions: 1) Trinidad and Tobago; 2) the northern South American coast; and 3) the so called “ABC Islands” (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) along with the southern Lesser Antilles and the southwestern Greater Antilles.
EEPGL had previously planned and obtained approval from the Government of Guyana for five development projects in the Stabroek Block, collectively referred to as the Stabroek Projects : 1) the Liza Phase 1 Development Project, 2) Liza Phase 2 Development Project, 3) Payara Development Project, 4) Yellowtail Development Project, and 5) Uaru Development Project.
The Whiptail Development Project will develop the Whiptail, Pinktail, and Tilapia fields, with the potential to develop other resources within the Licence area. However, EEPGL has not yet made a Final Investment Decision on the Project and is continuing to evaluate cost considerations during the Project development process. For the purposes of the Whiptail Development Project environmental authorisation process, the Project development cost is estimated to be $2.690 trillion (US$12.933 billion).
The EIA for the Whiptail is currently available and interested persons can access the document on the EPA’s website https://epaguyana.org/download/whiptail-development-project/
