One month later… EPA yet to issue report on oil spill at Liza Two

Oct 10, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The independent regulatory body of Guyana’s oil and gas operations, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is yet to issue a report on a ‘minor’ oil spill that occurred at the Liza Two operation in the Stabroek Block one month ago.

The incident was reported by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) to the media on September 10. EEPGL, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and the operator of the Stabroek Block explained that a team on the Liza Unity Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel observed a sheen on the water in the vicinity of the vessel on September 9, last.

Head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Kemraj Parsram

According to the oil company, initial investigations indicate that about one barrel of crude was released during a maintenance activity on the vessel. Further, the activity was immediately halted and the leak was cut off.

The oil company said, “Additional surveillance by helicopter confirmed that there was no sheen in the area; only a light sheen was perceptible approximately 20 km (13 miles) North West of the vessel. By midday on September 10, a support vessel in the area confirmed no further sign of a sheen.”

The ExxonMobil affiliate said there were no pictures of the spill.

Since the incident occurred, this publication has been requesting updates from both the Executive Director of the EPA, Mr. Kemraj Parsram and the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat.

In fact calls to both their cell phones went unanswered yesterday. Parsram had indicated to this newspaper on September 10 that the Department was conducting an investigation to confirm the amount of crude spilled, but when he was asked to say when that report is likely to be published, he stopped responding to text messages. Subsequent queries about the spill were ignored.

Meanwhile, Minister Bharrat on September 16 told this publication that the EPA issued a press statement on the matter and that was ‘Government’s position.’ When the Minister was asked to share a copy of that statement with this newspaper, he too never responded.

In the meantime, former head of the EPA, Dr. Vincent Adams said this occurrence shows how grossly underprepared Guyana is for petroleum production even as it embarks on an ambitious campaign to speed up these operations.

In an invited comment, Dr. Adams, a Petroleum Engineer explained that the agency’s failure to make a pronouncement on the spill days later paints a gloomy picture of what the nation can expect should a spill of greater scale occur. Nonetheless, he said, “It’s not about the size of a spill it’s just the culture. It reflects on the conduct of operations and the safety culture, and if you miss on the small things that’s how you get all of these major spills and disasters. All of them that we’ve had in the world they occurred because of missing just simple things.”

When he was asked if he believes that the investigations should have been completed by now, Dr. Adams responded in the affirmative. In fact, he argued, “The very next day or as soon as possible you have to send a team out there. It’s of high urgency and to me, if it is what they say it is, it shouldn’t be complicated so that shouldn’t be taking any time…all it takes is a single day’s visit on the FPSO. You conduct your interviews with all the employees and you make your assessment. Based on what they tell you then you come up and confirm whether it’s one barrel or whether it’s 100.”

The former EPA head believes that Guyana is in fact telling Exxon that it is not serious about oil spills and being accountable to the people by failing to provide its own report. As such, he signaled, “If we get a spill it’s going to be a disaster because we are not prepared to handle one to be honest.”

It must be noted that Guyana is yet to secure full liability coverage, as mandated by the Environmental Permits, for the ongoing offshore oil operations. Instead, the oil company assured that there is US$600 million that has been put aside by the Stabroek Block operators to cover oil spills per disaster in the rich Stabroek Block, where presently production has surpassed 300,000 barrels per day. In addition to that, it was reported that a US$2 billion parent company guarantee is being negotiated.

This means, however, that the immediate clean up finances could only amount to US$2.6 billion, meaning Guyana could be left to foot the additional charges that may be associated with an oil spill.

In fact, experts and environmental activists have questioned this sum in light of recent oil spill accidents. In Peru for example where only 12,000 barrels of crude was spilled offshore, Repsol – the Spanish operator of the block- has been slapped with a US$4.5 billion lawsuit.