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Despite Govt.’s real-time monitoring of production data from Exxon, public still faced with delayed updates
Graph on the Ministry’s website showing the last date oil production data was updated.
Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana (GoG) now has real-time monitoring of production activities ongoing in the prolific Stabroek Block, by oil giant, ExxonMobil. Despite this new development however, as announced on Thursday by Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, the public continues to face delays in accessing this information.
Two years ago, in August, following intense pressure by transparency activists for the release of production data by the company, the Ministry of Natural Resources directed this newspaper to the Petroleum Management Programme’s Data Centre, where Exxon’s production data was updated monthly.
Notably, the website offers data regarding the number of barrels produced at the Liza One and Liza Two, Payara projects in the Stabroek Block, as well as the daily reported injected gas, flared gas and gas used for fuel. It also gives an overview on the Brent Crude prices and the amount of water produced and injected.
Environmental and transparency activists have been relentlessly stressing the need for such data to be shared with the public and more so, be updated in a timely fashion to avoid altering of information. These key production data are critical to stakeholders to keep the government and the operator of the Stabroek Block accountable.
The data on the portal, presented on graphs- which no doubt poses a challenge to the ordinary citizen to interpret- are often updated belatedly each month. This newspaper has been highlighting the delayed sharing of information by the Ministry for several months now.
Notably, citizens expected that with daily reports now being accessed by the Ministry, the public would have access to more timely information on the sector as well. This however has not been the case.
On Sunday, Kaieteur News reviewed the production data on the website to ascertain whether there would be greater efficiency in reporting by the Ministry to keep the public informed; however, it was discovered that the information has not been updated since May 31, 2024.
It was Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo who announced on Thursday, during his weekly press engagement at Freedom House Georgetown that the government now has real-time access to Exxon’s production data, which is updated every 10 minutes.
He said the operator of the Stabroek Block now has a dashboard which is monitored by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
In addition to production data, Jagdeo said government now also has access to Exxon’s drilling activities in the Stabroek Block.
Previously, VP Jagdeo had expressed discontent with the delayed production updates being provided by the Ministry of Natural Resources to the public.
Last November, Jagdeo issued a directive to the Ministry of Natural Resources to address the issues with the website. His call for action came after multiple reports by this newspaper about the pressing need to ensure transparency and reliable information sharing on the oil sector.
The failure by the Ministry of Natural Resources to update the website defeats the purpose of the portal to keep Guyanese informed on the exploitation of the oil and gas resources and further brings the government’s commitment to transparency into question, at a time when citizens question the “incestuous relationship” between the oil companies and government.
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