On several occasions, former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Vincent Adams told the media that he was able to secure insurance coverage totalling US$2.5B from ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL). He had also stated that the regulator was able to get an agreement that the parent company would cover costs above and beyond what is not handled by the subsidiary.
Yesterday however, President of EEPGL, Alistair Routledge made it pellucid that the company never had such an arrangement with the former EPA administration.
In fact, Routledge said the company is now working with the EPA and its partners in the block to give Guyana US$2B insurance policy which is higher than what regulators in Canada, the UK, and the USA demand.
In a December 2019 Guyana Standard report, Dr. Adams had said that the EPA was able to secure local insurance totaling US$2.5B and even beyond this.
Dr. Adams had said, “When Exxon had applied for a permit (for Liza Phase Two), we insisted that they had to have a certain degree of liability coverage. There was some back and forth on the issue but the EPA held its ground…I am proud to say that Guyana unless someone tells me otherwise,…has the highest liability coverage in the world. Most countries would go and buy insurance and the highest you would get is US$2.5B.”
The former EPA Head added, “But we insisted that anything over and above had to be covered by them because Esso doesn’t have any assets. It is just a limited liability company. We insisted that the parent companies have to cover any excess so we basically have unlimited coverage for any spill or disaster…”
Based on Routledge’s statements, Guyana does not have the unlimited coverage Dr. Adams had hoped for.
