Guyana Oil and Gas News

Introduction Today’s column addresses the  fourth and final focus area for my critique of ExxonMobil’s actions in regard to the transition away from policies that reinforce global warming,  climate change, and in support of primary reliance on clean energy technologies in an environmentally-friendly energy  mix.

Driven by an oil & gas industry that is projected to significantly transform the face of the country’s economy, possibly in as little as a decade, Guyana continues to attract encouraging external prognoses for growth in the period ahead.

Dutch company SBM Offshore has shared a YouTube video of the lifting and installation of the first topsides on the Prosperity FPSO – what will be Guyana’s third oil platform – at the Keppel Offshore & Marine yard in Singapore.

-60-day review process underway An environmental study was yesterday submitted by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary to the EPA for a US$1.3b gas to shore project which the government hopes will lead to vastly lower energy costs that would enable a spurt in manufacturing but doubts have persisted over execution capacity and whether a real feasibility study has been done.

Saying that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “systematically and knowingly” violated the law,  environmentalist Simone Mangal-Joly is contending that the environmental permit issued for ExxonMobil’s Yellowtail Development Project is “illegal and Invalid” as a result.

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has lodged a complaint with the Local Content Secretariat over the practice here by foreign companies of bundling contracts for services in the oil and gas sector to the disadvantage of local companies.

Mr. Parsram Executive Director The Environmental Protection Agency  Georgetown Guyana   Dear Mr.

Introduction Today’s column addresses the second and third focus areas of my present critique of ExxonMobil.

Not long ago, any verifiable information from reliable sources that the Guyana economy had been registering anything above the level of its customary year-by-year underwhelming performance would have been sufficient cause for robust media-driven official celebrations.

The energy news site oilprice.com is projecting that Guyana will be pumping more than one million barrels of oil daily by 2027 and that the returns therefrom will deliver “a tremendous economic windfall for one of South America’s most impoverished nations.”

More than one week after ExxonMobil announced that it is seeking approval for a fifth development at the Uaru+ well, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday said that the application is currently been screened.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, US-based medical services provider RemoteMD charged 15 oil services workers US$350 ($70,000) each for a rapid COVID test, far higher than local labs and raising questions again over the expense claims that ExxonMobil and its contractors will make as cost oil.

With ExxonMobil ramping up activities offshore Guyana and the government granting more permits to advance the process, a group of environmental activists have written to Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Belizean Prime Minister Johnny Briceño outlining possible risks of the operations.

Last week’s column represents an earnest effort on my part, to portray, largely in its own words, ExxonMobil’s official posture on global climate change and the energy transition away from fossil fuels usage.

Massy Gas Products Guyana Ltd (MGPGL) has announced that the company is set to make a multi-million US dollar investment in the expansion of its capacity to produce liquid oxygen and nitrogen in order to meet the needs of what, going forward, will be the demands of the country’s economy, principally, its oil & gas sector.

ExxonMobil has selected a planned US$600 million Vreed-en-Hoop shore base established by NRG Holdings Incorporated – a consortium of local business persons –  to support its offshore oil operations, sources say.

On the heels of obtaining government regulatory approvals for its Yellowtail well and the announcement of its US$10 billion Final Investment Decision on that project, US oil major ExxonMobil is now seeking approval for a fifth development, at the Uaru+ well.

Amid sharp criticisms of its handling of the approval process for ExxonMobil’s fourth well development, the EPA yesterday said it complied with the law and had conducted public consultations above and beyond what was expected.

The Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) took approximately five working days to complete its review of the over 6000-page revised environmental impact assessment report for ExxonMobil’s recently licensed Yellowtail development project.

Introduction In last week’s column, I had focused on those reputational risks which confront ExxonMobil, and are not risks directly arising from its performance in regard to global climate change and energy transition.