By Isaac ‘Asume’ Osuoka
Dr. Isaac ‘Asume’ Osuoka is a Fellow in Residence at the Department of Global and International Studies at Carleton University and a respected leader in global environmental and climate justice circles. A longstanding activist and critical development scholar of the activities of the transnational oil industry in Nigeria, Dr. Osuoka served as the founding coordinator of Oilwatch Africa, a network supporting communities impacted by the petroleum industry in the continent.
In May 2024, I had the privilege of meeting several scholars and activists from Latin America and the Caribbean at the Contested Energy Futures Workshop in Toronto. This event highlighted how hydrocarbon investments continue to shape the energy and political landscapes of countries like Guyana and the broader region. Testimonies from community activists in Guyana brought a strong sense of déjà vu. Over the years, in various African and Latin American countries, I have repeatedly heard stories of abuses by petroleum corporations and their client states against vulnerable communities – communities that once believed or hoped the exploitation of oil and gas resources would improve their lives.
Very often, the realities of hydrocarbon exploitation – for the citizens who depend on the lands and waters for their livelihoods and others in the countries – starkly contrast with what the corporations and the political elite promise. While oil and gas extraction may temporarily boost government revenues, as seen in Nigeria’s earlier experience and, more recently, in Equatorial Guinea, the long-term impact on the national political economy has been disastrous. Nigeria, in particular, is in a mess. Listening to the speakers at the Toronto workshop reaffirmed the urgency of my message: Guyana must not follow the same path toward becoming an economic and political basket case.
As Guyana enters the ranks of petroleum-exporting nations, I feel compelled to share lessons from my decades of experience in Nigeria and the wider Gulf of Guinea, where a politically connected few have siphoned off petroleum revenues while the majority of the population continues to endure some of the worst poverty globally. Nigeria’s Niger Delta and its Atlantic coastline, where transnational oil corporations such as Shell and Mobil have operated for decades, is one of the most polluted regions in the world. Oil spills, gas flaring, and deforestation have devastated ecosystems, eroded the livelihoods of local communities, and fueled social unrest.
A recent United Nations Environment Programme study discovered alarming levels of toxic contaminants found in the Niger Delta region due to decades of oil exploitation. Soil and water samples taken from impacted communities revealed dangerously high concentrations of benzene, a known carcinogen, which in some areas was reported to be 900 times higher than the WHO-recommended safe limits. Last year, a report by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission revealed that, in some locations, toxic contaminants such as chromium are present in groundwater at concentrations over 1,000 times the WHO limit. Additionally, Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons in some samples exceed safe levels by a factor of 1 million. Additionally, the report highlights widespread contamination with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are linked to various health issues, including cancer and reproductive harm. These toxic substances have seeped into drinking water sources and farmlands, rendering the environment hazardous for human habitation and agricultural activities. Despite the country’s wealth in resources, the region suffers from high levels of poverty, food insecurity, and violence. This stark contradiction — between the wealth generated by oil and the poverty of the communities that host oil extraction — is a pattern that repeats itself in other countries in Africa.
With oil’s promise comes grave risks. These risks — environmental, social, and economic — are already visible in Guyana, where offshore drilling is, based on reports I have seen, generating significant amounts of hazardous waste, including oil-based drill cuttings, contaminated water, and radioactive materials. Managing this waste properly is essential to protect Guyana’s fragile ecosystems and the health of its people. However, it appears that recent decisions by the Guyanese government suggest inadequate attention to environmental protection. I have read in this newspaper that the Government recently approved the construction of an oil and gas waste management facility at Coverden on the East Bank of Demerara, without requiring a comprehensive Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), which has rightly alarmed environmentalists and communities who fear that the facility could contaminate local soil and water resources, undermining Guyana’s food security goals.
In Trinidad and Tobago, similar regulatory failures have led to repeated environmental disasters. Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS), a regional environmental watchdog, issued a stark warning: if oil spills can happen with such frequency and impunity in Trinidad, they can happen in Guyana, too.
Oil always arrives with a promise. For Guyana, the promise is one of economic growth, infrastructure development, and increased global standing. However, my work across oil regions in West Africa has shown that the arrival of oil can deepen existing power imbalances that could undermine the possibilities for achieving such objectives. First, a company like ExxonMobil, with over 50 billion dollars in annual profits, is considerably wealthier than Guyana. Mobil’s investments in Guyana have strategic and economic import for its home country, the United States. If not well managed by the Guyanese people, oil exploitation would recalibrate colonial relations where the local political and economic elite become slave drivers who are supported to hold on to power to enable the oil to flow – whatever the cost borne by the people.
In sub-Saharan African countries within the sphere of influence of France, such as the Republic of Congo and Chad, the company Total or the French government have historically determined who rules or who is overthrown, even if it means throwing the country into civil wars. In Nigeria, where foreign political influence is less overt, there is an elite consensus around the sharing of oil revenues and political power in ways that overwhelmingly dispossess the majority of the people.
The Guyanese people must ask: who will truly benefit from this newfound oil wealth? Will it be the people of Guyana, or will the profits flow largely to foreign corporations and local elites?
One of the critical issues in oil development is the lack of involvement of civic communities in decision-making processes. In Nigeria, oil fields were initially concessioned out during British colonial rule shortly before Independence. As it was in the beginning when colonial subjects were not consulted about oil projects, post-independent rulers have operated more or less like colonialists, allowing the oil and gas industry to build pipeline infrastructure that mostly takes crude and natural gas with little or no consideration for local energy needs. The lack of opportunities for people whose livelihoods the industry destroyed resulted in widespread resentment, protests, and, eventually, state violence at a massive scale. These situations may seem farfetched when thinking about Guyana. However, a lack of vigilance could cause dangers to creep in, as the Coverden waste management debacle shows.
Furthermore, the question of accountability looms large. In Nigeria, oil companies like Shell and Chevron have a long history of avoiding responsibility for the environmental damage they have caused. Earlier this year, Shell announced plans to sell off its onshore operations in the Niger Delta to an indigenous company that Shell helped to create and fund. The calculated move is intended to enable Shell to escape liability for decades of abuses and pollution it does not want to pay for.
When I checked, I saw that this is from Shell’s old playbook, which was previously tried and successfully tested in the Caribbean. In the 1980s, after decades of profitably operating a refinery in Curaçao, Shell abandoned its old and dilapidating oil refining operations in the country, selling the infrastructure to the host government in 1985 for a mere $1. This sale contract included a clause that Shell would not be held liable for any past or future environmental pollution. The Dutch-owned company knew decades of refining had left behind an environmental disaster, with severe soil and water contamination from hydrocarbons and heavy metals. The refinery site and surrounding areas remain heavily polluted, posing ongoing environmental and health challenges for the island. Up till today, the government and people of Curaçao continue to struggle with the remediation and restoration efforts needed to address the toxic legacy Shell left behind.
Guyana must ensure that oil companies operating in its waters are held accountable for any environmental damage they cause, both during and after their operations. This means establishing clear legal frameworks that hold companies liable for clean-up costs and ensure that they cannot simply divest and walk away from their responsibilities. It is not too early in the day for Guyana to consider the future.
Moreover, Guyana’s oil development must be viewed in the context of the global climate crisis. While oil extraction may bring short-term economic benefits, it is ultimately a path that leads to greater carbon emissions and more severe climate impacts. As a country vulnerable to sea-level rise and extreme weather events, Guyana must weigh the long-term consequences of becoming a major oil producer. As a developing country, Guyana may not be pressured to bear the immediate costs of climate change mitigation, but it cannot ignore the reality that petroleum will soon be past its prime, like coal. Like Nigeria, Guyana must plan for a sustainable future, embracing cleaner energy alternatives while securing long-term environmental and economic stability.
