Dear Editor,
OGGN – Oil and Gas Governance Network (www.oggn.org/about) – does not agree with the letter ‘Exxon disappointed with KN headline’ in KN, October 22, 2024. Vice President Phil Rietema of EMGL wrote ‘… our ability to optimize all aspects of our Guyana operations to drive greater efficiencies and ensure we continue to deliver projects on time and on budget’. What this letter seems to say is that Exxon’s undoubted engineering skills enables it to extract deep-water oil at speeds greatly in excess of the safe working limits specified in the Environmental Impact Assessments and without the assurance of unlimited liability coverage from a parent company guarantee.
OGGN hopes that the equipment installed on the three Floating Production Storage and Offloading ships (FPSOs) by SBM Offshore at Keppel shipyard in Singapore was certified by the component manufacturers and tested by SBM to the safe working limits shown in the table above (see https://petroleum.gov.gy/data-visualization for daily production rates). OGGN has called for the publication of the audit reports by the certifying engineers [when/where?] without response by the Government of Guyana, see https://www.stabroeknews.com/2023/04/30/opinion/letters/govt-must-publish-international-certifications-that-allow-oil-companies-to-operate-over-safety-limits/.
It is not clear how the EPA, not having on its staff any known qualified and experienced oilfield engineers, can have authorised the revised limits which Kaieteur News reported on October 18, and which Exxon has already exceeded for the Liza-1 and Liza-2 oilfields. It may be difficult to visualize what is happening in the oilfields 200 km offshore, so OGGN offers this comparison. The speed limit for driving on highways in Guyana is 100 km/hour. If you are stopped by the Guyana police for driving at 127 km/hour, would you expect to escape a penalty by saying that it is OK, it is just like Exxon’s extraction rate? And, Officer, no I don’t have any insurance certificate with me, just like Exxon?
Sincerely,
Alfred Bhulai
Janette Bulkan
Darsh Khusial
Kenrick Hunte
Joe Persaud
Charles Sugrim
(On behalf of OGGN (www.oggn.org/about)