The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disclosed today that it is reviewing an application by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) which is desirous of forging ahead with the Yellowtail Development Project in the Stabroek Block.
The regulator said the proposed project will be implemented in multiple stages including: wells drilling and completions; mobilization and installation of subsea equipment, umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF); installation of a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) facility; production operations, offloading of crude and decommissioning; and use of support vessels and helicopters throughout the stages.
It said too that the proposed project will be undertaken in the marine offshore environment within Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and would also utilize land-based support activities such as marine shore bases, fabrication facilities, warehouses, and storage yards. As a result of the intended developmental activities, the EPA said possible effects on the environment may include impacts to marine water quality, air quality, marine fauna, socio-economic resources, among others.
Furthermore, the EPA said it has determined that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required to be conducted before any decision to approve or reject the proposed project is taken, since this development may significantly impact the environment. In the meantime, the agency said members of the public are hereby invited, within 28 days of this Notice issued today to make written submissions to the agency, setting out those questions and matters which they require to be answered or considered in the EIA.
A summary of the project can be viewed on the EPA’s website or uplifted at its Sophia headquarters at a reasonable cost of photocopying. Pending government approval and project sanctioning, the Yellowtail project is expected to achieve first oil in 2025.
Guyana Standard would have reported that the Yellowtail discovery was announced in April 2019 and is regarded as ExxonMobil’s 13th oil discovery in the Stabroek Block. The Yellowtail- 1 well was drilled in a new reservoir, encountering approximately 292 feet (89 meters) of high-quality oil bearing sandstone reservoir and was drilled to a depth of 18,445 feet (5,622 meters) in 6,046 feet (1,843 meters) of water.
As for the Yellowtail-2 well, it encountered 69 feet (21 meters) of net pay in a newly identified, high-quality oil-bearing reservoirs among the original Yellowtail-1 discovery intervals. This is ExxonMobil’s 17th oil discovery in the Stabroek Block.
