In the past, any operator desirous of developing a commercial discovery would have to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider before granting approval. But according to EPA Head, Dr. Vincent Adams, a different approach will be taken henceforth.
Dr. Adams told the Guyana Standard today that all the oil companies operating offshore Guyana will have to do an EIA for their individual blocks instead of one well at a time. Dr. Adams said that this not only saves resources on both ends, but also helps to deepen the understanding of the cumulative impact the oil projects will have.
“It is just a waste of resources if you continue like that. This way, we get to see with the ExxonMobil operated block (Stabroek Block), how Liza One and Two, Payara and the Hammerhead they are now applying for, would impact the environment. You can’t get the full picture, the true picture if you just look at it one by one. And this is just for Exxon to do, they will all have to do it,” Dr. Adams said.
He further noted that a suggestion was made for the operators to pool resources and assesses the licensed blocks as a whole but it was not taken on board. He said that assurance was given that the new approach would be followed.
In compliance with the new standard, ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), has said that that it will conduct an assessment to determine the cumulative impacts of having four oil projects work simultaneously on the Stabroek Block.
This was noted in the project details it recently submitted to the regulatory body on the Hammerhead Development Project. That venture would see close to 190,000 barrels of oil being produced at peak period. The Guyana Standard would have reported that once all approvals are granted, ExxonMobil could have the Hammerhead Project up and running by mid-2024. (See link for more details on that report: https://www.guyanastandard.com/2020/03/11/exxonmobil-to-assess-cumulative-environmental-impact-of-four-oil-projects-on-stabroek-block/)
