Oil-spill gon cause we fuh pay till de end of never

Jun 07, 2020 Dem Boys Seh, Features / Columnists 0 , Source - Kaieteur News Online - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...ill-de-end-of-never/

Dem Boy Seh…

Pray to de Creatah dat Guyana nah get an oil-spill. De oil gon destroy de fishing industry and de coastline. It gon seep into dem drainage canals and find its way up dem creek and destroy de water wha some people does use fuh cook dem food and wash dem clothes with. It gon be real sufferin.

But it gon get moh wuss. Guyana gat to pay fuh de cost of any oil-spill cleanup and damages not covered by insurance. Dem oil company get de man, wha gon soon ‘Trot’ off into de political wilderness, fuh sign a contract which seh dat we gat to pay fuh recover de cost of the oil-spill cleanup. Imagine dat!

Is dat not advantage and eye pass to de highest extent?

Dem boys seh if de oil spill reach dem islands like Trinidad, Guyana gun be paying tell de end of never. So pray dat none never happen.

De only way dat Guyana will not pay is if dem can prove dat de incident which cause de oil spill was caused not just by negligence but by ‘gross’ negligence. Now how dem boys gon prove dat?

Dem boys keep hearing all de time how dem oil company tek risk and therefore dem gat to recover dem costs.

But what risk dem tek? Once dem find oil, de risk gone. Dem can recover all de money dem spend. Dem call dat de-risking de basin. But while dem de-risking de basin, we getting de shaft.

Talk half and wait fuh Trotty fuh answer why he sign de contract

ExxonMobil’s flaring releases 1 kilo of Carbon Dioxide for every man, woman and child daily

By Kiana Wilburg, Jun 07, 2020 News 0 , Kaieteur News Online - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...man-and-child-daily/

In the last six months, ExxonMobil has burnt over nine billion cubic feet of associated gas due to mechanical issues experienced with a gas compressor for the Liza Destiny oil vessel.

What flaring looks like on an FPSO

But how significant is that number? According to President of the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Carroll Muffett, it is equivalent to more than a kilogramme (kg) of Carbon Dioxide (C02) for every Guyanese. At room temperature, one kg of CO2 can occupy the trunk of a large car.

During his first appearance on Kaieteur Radio’s Programme, Guyana’s Oil and You, the revered attorney-at-law and environmentalist said it can be difficult for most to understand just how considerable nine billion cubic feet is and even the 15 million cubic feet of gas that the oil giant is flaring per day. But one of the best ways to translate this, Muffett said, is by looking at the Guyana’s energy consumption.

The CIEL official said that the nine billion cubic feet of gas that Exxon flared since operations began last year is equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of oil.

“And to put that in more perspective, Guyana’s electricity sector in 2016 burnt 1.8 million. So you have ExxonMobil burning roughly the equivalent of gas or oil in six months from flaring as Guyana’s entire electricity sector burnt in a year and this is ongoing.”

He added: “ …Another thing that we looked at is every day this continues, Exxon is releasing nearly 790,000 kilogrammes of CO2 into the atmosphere – that is more than a kilogramme of CO2 for every man, woman and child in Guyana per day…”

The official said this is indeed significant while noting that it should be given due attention by the relevant authorities.

Since learning via the local media that ExxonMobil has been flaring at its offshore Guyana project, the Center for International Environmental Law has been quite outspoken on the dangers of this practice while noting that Guyana’s authorities are perhaps failing to understand the true magnitude of what is taking place.

The not-for-profit law firm, which was founded in 1989, noted that flaring releases greenhouse gases and toxins which threaten the global climate, the local environment, and public health.

The law firm has also said that the estimated nine billion cubic feet of gas which Exxon said it flared puts Guyana among the top 10 gas flaring countries in the world even though Guyana has only been producing oil for close to six months.

CIEL said too that the carbon dioxide emissions from that flaring are approximately equivalent to the amount generated by Guyana’s entire population over three months.

In a statement to the press, the Director of CIEL’s Climate and Energy Programme, Nikki Reisch, said it is quite clear that ExxonMobil had not taken adequate measures to prevent this harmful and unnecessary practice in the first place.

“…Exxon claims the flaring was temporary and exceptional, due to failures of equipment designed to re-inject the gas into the ground. If so, that bodes poorly for the company’s capacity or willingness to mitigate other foreseeable environmental impacts, not to mention any potential disasters that could accompany deepwater operations.”

CIEL’s Senior Attorney, Erika Lennon is also concerned about the flaring in Guyana. In fact, Lennon is convinced that ExxonMobil’s whole plan to develop oil in Guyana threatens to transform the country into a carbon bomb. “Wasteful and harmful gas flaring is just one more way that is happening,” the senior attorney concluded.

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