…says we are still in ‘early stages’ of preparation
Guyana is currently unprepared for the possibility of an oil spill the likes of which is currently afflicting neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, but the administration is acutely aware of its shortcomings and is actively working with partners to confront such a possibility.
“I would not say that we are ready, we are not ready for that as yet; but I believe we are in the process of acquiring sufficient information that will (enable us) to put processes and structures in place to deal with the eventuality of an oil spill,” Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, declared on Thursday as he addressed members of the media at a post-Cabinet engagement in the Kairuni Room of the Ministry of the Presidency following Cabinet’s meeting on Tuesday last.
He also downplayed the immediate need for a single person to be tasked with the portfolio of Minister of Petroleum.
Speaking to Guyana’s drive to become prepared for the eventuality of an oil spill, Harmon drew reference to an upcoming conference at which the Director of the Department of the Environment would be participating, and said, “These are some of the issues being dealt with.”
According to the Minister of State, “We are still in the early stages of preparation. We have been getting the advice of best practices from countries around the world.”
Harmon told the press that oil spills are the result of accidents, and as such, “it is the way how you prepare for these accidents that is important.”
The Minister of State used the occasion to point out that oil spills have occurred in some of the more developed countries around the world. He said, “With all of their processes, they still had issues when there was an oil spill.”
Government, Harmon said, is looking at the capacity within the Ministry of Natural Resources and the environmental agencies — the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Environment, and the Office of Climate Change — among other government agencies.
As it relates to an ‘Oil Spill Strategy’, the Minister told members of the media this was among the issues “on the front burner; and there are discussions going on all the time.”
He noted that, at present, the various environmental departments are tasked with developing such a strategy, and he announced that, at the end of the month, the EPA would be hosting a staff retreat.
According to the Minister of State, the department will be using the caucus to “focus on their processes, and they are going to look at the processes for dealing with oil and the environment and things like that… The EPA, they are actually gearing up.”
The Minister gave assurance that there would be increased focused on environmental protection as 2020 nears.
Environmental Activist Anette Arjoon-Martins has, in recent weeks, been at the forefront of questioning the absence of, and calling for, policy/policies related to oil and its impact on the environment.
Questioned on the need for a single person to be identified for singular responsibility of the sector, Minister Harmon pointed out that while the Ministry of Natural Resources is responsible for all of the country’s natural resources, including the oil and gas sector, the portfolio of Petroleum Minister has been given to the substantive Minister.
That Ministry, according to Harmon, is involved in the national patrimony of Guyana, “so oil and gas — like timber, gold, diamond, manganese and all these other natural resources — are part of the natural resources,” he explained.
According to Harmon, “Because of the way things develop in Guyana, there is a requirement for a Minister of Petroleum, and that is something which resides within the President, and the President can in fact designate someone for that (portfolio), and so he has designated Minister Trotman.”
Harmon noted that as regards the Energy Sector, this falls under the Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.
Harmon said that an environmental study undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found there is a 10 per cent likelihood of an oil spill, occurring offshore Guyana as part of the ExxonMobil exploration activities, reaching to Guyana’s shores. The report concluded that an oil spill is considered possible.
Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) has conducted oil spill modelling to evaluate the range of likely spill trajectories and rates of travel.
The location of the Project at 190 km (120 miles) offshore, prevailing northwest currents, the light nature of the Liza field crude oil, and the region’s warm waters would all help minimise the severity of a spill.
“Accounting for these factors, the modelling indicates only a 5-to-10 per cent probability of any oil reaching the Guyana coast without taking into consideration the effectiveness of any oil spill response, and in the unlikely event that a spill were even to occur,” the study found.
ExxonMobil, the US-based company which has already found commercial quantities reaching almost three billion barrels of oil, has proposed to drill approximately 17 subsea development wells, and use a float
