Govt. fails to publish Redford’s Payara review, three months after promising to do so

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Former Member

Govt. fails to publish Redford’s Payara review, three months after promising to do so

Dec 15, 2020 News, Source - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...-promising-to-do-so/

Kaieteur News – After promising transparency in its management of Guyana’s oil and gas sector, the Government of Dr. Irfaan Ali is shirking a key aspect of that mandate: the release of the US$9B Payara project review, done by controversial Canadian consultant, Alison Redford.

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, promised that the findings of the review would be made public in September, weeks before the government approved the Payara Field Development Plan (FDP) submitted by ExxonMobil.

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat.00

The new government, after being installed in August, decided to complete the review started by the David Granger administration’s consultant, Bayphase Oil & Gas Consultants. That company is a client of ExxonMobil. Using a grant from Canada, the Government hired a team headed by Redford. The team’s job involved reviewing Bayphase’s work.

Redford, an ex-politician, resigned from her post as Premier of Alberta, Canada in 2014 for inappropriately spending Canada’s tax dollars.

She was also found to have benefitted from money donated to her former political party by an ExxonMobil subsidiary in Canada, called Imperial Oil.

Redford’s team completed its review in six weeks.

Pivotal issues include the cost of the Payara project. Notably, Exxon stated in a release that the Payara development will cost US$9B to produce 600 million oil-equivalent barrels. This is US$3B higher than its US$6B estimate for the Liza Phase Two project, which will be producing at a similar peak rate from a reserve with a similar volume estimate. Exxon is yet to justify this significant cost difference.

There are also two major environmental issues, which were not brought to finality.

Government said it has strictly prohibited routine flaring without approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and explicitly stated that any flaring to maintain oil production is not allowed at the Payara project. ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), will be expected to compensate the government for the cost of wasted gas during flaring and will be subject to fines under the EPA, which are related to emissions from flaring. It is also expected to establish a framework for a carbon price in line with international standards.

The EPA can grant permission on a month-by-month basis after taking into account, a study of the circumstances and a detailed report for requiring same. This is not a departure from the situation occurring at the Liza Phase One project, where ExxonMobil has flared over 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

As for the dumping of produced water, Government said that it has now required EEPGL to include tie-in points and space for produced water injection equipment, in its base design, consistent with its commitment to advocate for discharge of produced water at internationally accepted standards.

Government is supposed to oversee a study to be conducted by Exxon by the first quarter of 2021 to examine the safe and efficient reinjection of the produced water, and determine the effects of the reinjection on the reservoir. The licence states that the study will also seek to determine how the effects of dumping produced water in the ocean can be minimized. Government said that this is in keeping with its commitment to preserve marine life and water quality. The dumping of produced water at Payara has not been prohibited.

ExxonMobil has also been dumping thousands of barrels of produced water into the ocean at its Liza Phase One operations.

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Former Member

@Former Member posted:
Govt. fails to publish Redford’s Payara review, three months after promising to do so
Dec 15, 2020 News, Source - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...-promising-to-do-so/
Kaieteur News – After promising transparency in its management of Guyana’s oil and gas sector, the Government of Dr. Irfaan Ali is shirking a key aspect of that mandate: the release of the US$9B Payara project review, done by controversial Canadian consultant, Alison Redford.
Redford, an ex-politician, resigned from her post as Premier of Alberta, Canada in 2014 for inappropriately spending Canada’s tax dollars.
She was also found to have benefitted from money donated to her former political party by an ExxonMobil subsidiary in Canada, called Imperial Oil.
Redford’s team completed its review in six weeks.

Probably, poop poop gobbledygook poop poop was done and now they are trying to figure out what exactly she did for the assignment.

========================

Josh Wingrove, Published March 20, 2014, Source - The Globe and Mail - https://www.theglobeandmail.co...uit/article17586488/

There was no one thing. Alison Redford, so frequently a premier on borrowed time, succumbed Wednesday when she resigned her leadership of Alberta's dynasty PC party. But there were signposts along the road as she gradually lost the support of the public and her party.

1. The outsider

Ms. Redford was an outsider from the start, with only one MLA supporting her leadership bid. She made the second ballot largely by signing up outsiders with a string of campaign promises – chiefly to reverse a $107-million education cut, which wooed teachers but angered many in the party. She beat the caucus’s preferred candidate, Gary Mar, with the same outsider support and, six months later, won an election in which the Wildrose Party made serious errors in the final week. She struggled to satisfy both the centrist, non-partisan coalition that handed her power, and the party she led.

2. Trouble on the left, unrest on the right

A pair of anti-union bills passed in December sparked protests and led union leaders, who earlier were favourable, to dismiss her as a fraud. Earlier in the year, her government also changed the way it budgeted, separating out capital spending. The move was explained as being more in line with common accounting principles, but fiscal hawks said it amounted to cooking the books.

3. The Mandela funeral

The catalyst for much of the furor is a $45,000 trip to South Africa for Ms. Redford and an aide to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral. The costs were high because she took a government plane to meet up with Stephen Harper’s own plane, flew her aide separately and then flew back early, rather than travelling with Mr. Harper. A week ago, she apologized and said she paid back the $45,000.

4. Expenses and ethics under scrutiny

Ms. Redford had introduced what she billed as the country's most robust expense disclosure rules. But her own expenses came under greater scrutiny after the South Africa trip. She was slammed for booking first-class flights and luxurious hotels. She flew her daughter and her daughter’s friend on the government plane, which was also used for trips timed closely to party events – and to pick Ms. Redford up in California before Ralph Klein’s funeral. Ms. Redford was also critized when a lucrative tobacco lawsuit contract went to the law-firm of her ex-husband.

5. An uprising in caucus

Last Thursday, MLA Len Webber broke publicly with his leader, resigning from caucus and telling a news conference she was a bully and that anybody would be better as leader. Ms. Redford’s allies attacked, saying he was “a very sad man” who should “go back to being an electrician.” That further divided caucus. One well-regarded MLA, former energy executive Donna Kennedy-Glans, followed suit Monday, resigning from caucus and cabinet. Other MLAs were openly discussing doing the same.

6. The isolated leader

Ms. Redford struggled to establish a personal connection with voters and even most members of her own caucus. When Ms. Kennedy-Glans left, she said she had spoken one-on-one with the premier just once since being elected, even though the two are from the same party, their ridings are both in Calgary and Ms. Kennedy-Glans held a junior cabinet post. There were other signs: Ms. Redford replaced government sedans with black SUVs and brought in top staff from Ontario or from outside politics. Seen to be freezing out caucus, she had few friends when things went sour.

7. No rescue party

In the last election, Ms. Redford fought off a challenge from the nascent Wildrose Party but the polls showed support flowing back to the opposition. In the election, business interests – or money, at least – rallied to the PCs. But as Redford’s troubles accumulated there was little support from leaders in the oil patch, out of the oil patch. As Jeff Jones reports, industry leaders shrugged at her crisis because they see little difference in how either the PCs or Wildrose would affect them

8. Polling problems and the knife at the throat

After months of decline, public opinion poll numbers placed Ms. Redford and her Tories at terrifying depths, with a personal approval rating of 18 per cent and party support of just 19 per cent, versus 46 per cent for Wildrose. With the party’s 43-year dynasty at risk, riding association presidents were preparing non-confidence motions in meetings set for Wednesday night, which were pre-empted by Ms. Redford’s departure.

12/15/202:06 PM

Ramakant-PSenior Member

They cannot tell you everything that is happening with an ongoing project.

They don't report to Kaieteur News. Their Critique is stupid.

12/15/205:05 PM

Former Member

First ...

Of specific importance is how a person with absolutely no training nor experience in this highly technical field is in the lead role for this project.

Second ...

There must be periodic brief reports for project; an established approach for these types of projects.

Thus far, they have said absolutely nothing on this project which was reported to be completed a while ago.

12/15/206:20 PM

Ramakant-PSenior Member

@Former Member posted:
First ...
Of specific importance is how a person with absolutely no training nor experience in this highly technical field is in the lead role for this project.
Second ...
There must be periodic brief reports for project; an established approach for these types of projects.
Thus far, they have said absolutely nothing on this project which was reported to be completed a while ago.

That's not a problem for the Government. Even if they made a promise to reveal a report of the findings, they don't have to seek KN and report to them. They are making a lot of progress and KN doesn't see fit to report them.

12/15/206:46 PM

TolaSenior Member

@Ramakant-P posted:
That's not a problem for the Government. Even if they made a promise to reveal a report of the findings, they don't have to seek KN and report to them. They are making a lot of progress and KN doesn't see fit to report them.

BS, when is the PPP government ever transparent ?

12/15/209:31 PM

Former Member

@Former Member posted:
Govt. fails to publish Redford’s Payara review, three months after promising to do so
Dec 15, 2020 News, Source - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...-promising-to-do-so/

I think we all know why the review wasn't published and perhaps never will be. Interesting excerpt from the article:

ExxonMobil has also been dumping thousands of barrels of produced water into the ocean at its Liza Phase One operations.

Someone tell Billy Ramgoat that the "hundreds of millions of income" he sees on the horizon may not be enough in the near future. The robbery and pillaging is underway and when the devastation is uncovered, the perps will have enriched themselves and moved on quietly leaving arese holes like Ganga Nehru, KP, dutty Baseman to cover for them.

12/16/2012:15 AM

Former Member

Information indicate that Alison Redford is a graduate in Law in 1988.

Since graduation she has been involved with issues in Canada and abroad with legal issues.

There is absolutely no indication that she pursued additional studies in the complex engineering/technical areas which include oil production projects.

12/16/202:35 PM

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Topics

Govt. fails to publish Redford’s Payara review, three months after promising to do so

Govt. fails to publish Redford’s Payara review, three months after promising to do so

Seven stumbles and a funeral: Why Alberta’s Premier Alison Redford had to quit

1. The outsider

2. Trouble on the left, unrest on the right

3. The Mandela funeral

4. Expenses and ethics under scrutiny

5. An uprising in caucus

6. The isolated leader

7. No rescue party

8. Polling problems and the knife at the throat

Govt. fails to publish Redford’s Payara review, three months after promising to do so

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