Hess boss says Pres. Ali assured “there was no reason why a stay could not be granted” on Justice Kissoon’s Ruling for full liability coverage

Jun 24, 2023 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

Listen to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hess Corporation, John Hess recorded response.

Kaieteur News – Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hess Corporation, John Hess on Friday evening said Kaieteur News’ lead story titled ‘Hess Boss tells US conference Pres. Ali assured him of stay in Justice Kissoon’s ruling before Court of Appeal handed down decision’ published on Friday, June 23, 2023 is misleading.

CEO Hess Corporation, John Hess

In a bid to clarify his position, Hess said he had called President Irfaan Ali with concerns expressed by investors over the High Court’s ruling on May 3, 2023 ordering Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) – the operator of the Stabroek Block- to provide the country with an unlimited guarantee to respond to an oil spill from its parent companies. Hess Corporation has a 30 percent stake in that offshore field, currently producing approximately 400,000 barrels of oil per day.

According to the CEO, “I called the President about concerns expressed by investors about the recent court ruling, and the President—based on the advice of his Attorney General—conveyed to me that the State’s case in favour of its application was strong, and based on the merits of the case, there was no reason why a stay could not be granted.”

To this end, he said Kaieteur News’ headline was misleading and did not reflect the discussion had with the Head-of-State.

During the J.P. Morgan 2023 Energy, Power & Renewables Conference, Hess Corporation was asked to provide an update on the legal challenge mounted on its Environmental Permit for the Liza One project in Guyana.

Screenshot of the response provided by John Hess during the US Energy Conference

Two Guyanese men, Frederick Collins and Godfrey Whyte had taken the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Court, for failing to enforce the requirement of the Liza One Permit for an unlimited parent company guarantee. The citizens were successful in their litigation and the Judge ordered that the guarantee be provided or the Permit would be suspended.

Hess in his full response to the Conference was: “Yeah now first of all, this is something that the government disagreed with. We disagreed with, yeah, had a judge that got a complaint from an environmental activist. I mean, it happens in our country as well, and said, you know, basically the joint venture had to have unlimited liability in terms of the developments, otherwise production had to cease and I can tell you, the President was very emphatic that a stay would be put in place that would have no impact on production. The stay was put in place. There is no impact on production. And I think this is just a case of the judge not understanding what the petroleum legislation was or the petroleum requirements of our production programs were, and I think that matters been put to bed. There was a lot of noise about it, but it was basically noise.”

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