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Jagdeo refuses to say whether Caribbean covered in US$2B oil spill guarantee
Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo
Kaieteur News – ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) has consistently warned through the pages of its Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) that a major spill can affect as many as 13 Caribbean nations.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis in a column last year pointed out that the islands located within the path of a potential oil spill from the Guyana project produce more than US$140 billion of economic activity annually, largely based on the maritime and tourism sectors. International Financial Analyst, Tom Sanzillo explained that these countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, by virtue of the source of such revenues cited, face financial risks from an oil spill in Guyana.
Currently, the operator of the Stabroek Block is producing approximately 645,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) at three Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels. Notably, the vessels are all producing above nameplate capacity, sparking safety concerns of the operations.
ExxonMobil and partners have since lodged a US$2 billion oil spill guarantee to provide additional resources to cleanup and compensate if its limited US$600 million insurance fails to satisfy those demands.
Chief policymaker for the petroleum sector, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was asked during his Thursday press conference at the Office of the President in Georgetown to say whether the guarantee will provide coverage beyond this country’s borders. In his response, the VP told the reporter to ask Trinidad whether it has the resources to take care of a spill should Guyana be affected.
He said, “I see the Trinidadian concern and stuff like that. Did the Caribbean neighbours cater for Guyana? You think the Trinidadians when you ask them what if they have an oil spill, do they have money to cover our liabilities here? Just ask them that.”
On Thursday, Kaieteur News reported that a Trinidadian and Tobago non-profit organisation, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) raised concerns about the risk posed to the twin island and other Caribbean nations, during an Oil Spill forum in observance of World Environment Day on Wednesday.
During a virtual appearance at the event hosted at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown, the founding member and Corporate Secretary of the Tobago-based fisherfolk body, Gary Aboud argued that the risks posed by an oil spill in Guyana to other parts of the Caribbean are yet to be properly addressed by an EIA.
“If Guyana has a spill…it comes directly onto our waters (Trinidad and Tobago) and 70 percent of our Gulf of Paria water comes out from the Orinoko…yet the EIA does not even address the risk to Caricom, the risk to Trinidad,” Aboud lamented.
He continued, “So Guyana is operating as if Guyana is at risk for offshore platforms. They are not at risk; the movement from the water does not flow onto Guyanese shores; so all of a sudden where is the TOR (Terms of Reference) for Guyana.”
The Trinidadian said citizens have raised this concern with government officials in T&T previously both in person and through letters; however, it is yet to be addressed.
Oil spill models included in the Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) for a 35 well drilling campaign in the Stabroek Block showed that an unmitigated oil spill can reach Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Martinique, and Barbados as well as Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica.
Two Guyanese citizens, Frederick Collins and Godfrey Whyte took the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Court for failing to ensure the nation receives an unlimited parent company guarantee, in accordance with the Liza One Permit, to protect the nation from oil spill liabilities.
While the Court ruled in favour of the citizens on May 3, 2023 the EPA and Exxon moved to appeal the decision. Government subsequently applied to be joined to the matter to fight against the unlimited parent company guarantee.
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