Exxon taking measures to prevent environmental, health impacts from Hammerhead project – Snr Official

– says simulations, assessments being done to understand health impact

During their recent scoping meeting at Umana Yana in Kingston Georgetown, ExxonMobil Guyana fielded questions related to the impact its operations at Hammerhead will have on Guyanese, with the oil company detailing some of the measures being taken to mitigate any environmental and health impacts.
On Monday, Exxon met with citizens and stakeholders, as part of the consultations on what will be its 7th project offshore Guyana, the Hammerhead project. During the meeting, Exxon’s Global Projects Cost Engineering Manager Rebecca Cvikota highlighted measures that are being taken to safeguard the environment.
She noted that Exxon constantly monitors different aspects of its drilling operations, to ensure any incidents can be prevented. In case an incident does occur, however, there are also blowout preventers on each drill ship.

“As we’re doing the drilling process, we’re constantly monitoring the different aspects of the drilling equipment, the reservoir, things like pressure, temperature. And why do we do that? It’s so we can make sure we have a stable operation throughout this drilling activity. We are committed and our partners, our drilling operators, are committed to making sure that we don’t see anything we don’t expect or if it occurs, that we’re aware of it and we work towards it.”
“There’s lots of things we can do to change our operations and this process, to make sure the operation stays as stable as possible. In the event something unplanned does happen, you may be familiar with the term blowout preventer. We have those located on our drill ship, two per drill ship. And what those do, they are there in the event of an emergency,” she said.
Questions were also raised about potential health impacts from the operation, which will be located approximately 160 kilometers from Georgetown. ExxonMobil Guyana’s Projects Environmental and Regulatory Manager Mariya Skocik said that assessments are being done on potential health risks.
“The project summary that was provided to the EPA as part of the process, has a very high-level description of the process. And high-level description of potential impacts. That document intends to help EPA decide whether further studies are needed or if the project is small enough where we don’t require a full Environmental Impact Assessment.”
“In our case, one is needed. The project investment is large enough to do that. So, impacts on human health will be studied. And there are limits and measures in place for that. So we will be, as part of the study, running air dispersion models. And there are specific limits from the World Health Organisation, on the threshold of what’s safe for folks and what’s not safe,” Skocik explained.
Production on the Hammerhead is expected to begin in 2029. When it does, it is anticipated that between 120,000 to 180,000 barrels of oil per day will be added to Guyana’s production capacity. In a notice earlier this month, the EPA informed the public that ExxonMobil Guyana had applied for environmental authorisation for Hammerhead. The agency had explained that the project may have significant impacts on the environment.
It was pointed out by the EPA that the project is relatively close to other development projects, increasing the risk of cumulative impacts. Additionally, the associated risks that pertain to unplanned events while producing oil may be significant.
As such, this would require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before any decision can be made. Members of the public were given 28 days to ask whatever questions they needed answers to regarding the project and its environmental impact.
A perusal of the project summary reveals that the development will have between 14 and 30 production and water injection wells. Further, production is expected to begin in 2029. When it does, it is anticipated that between 120,000 to 180,000 barrels of oil per day will be added to Guyana’s production capacity.
On the other hand, a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel capable of storing between 1.4 to 2 million barrels of oil will be attached to the project.
Exxon is undertaking four production projects – Liza 1, Liza 2, and Payara (which are currently producing oil) and Yellowtail (where installation activities are ongoing) in the oil-rich Stabroek block.
It is estimated that when the Yellowtail development project comes on stream, production will climb to 810,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2027. Additionally, Exxon has already received approvals for and is advancing preparatory works on its fifth and sixth projects, Uaru and Whiptail. (G-3)