STOP EXXON’S FLARING OF GAS IN GUYANA’S OFFSHORE OILFIELDS
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Flaring is when natural gas is burned off in process of extracting oil. This practice is performed when oil companies are in a rush to extract the more lucrative oil resource.
Since starting oil production in December 2019, ExxonMobil’s subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd, has flared more than 9 billion cubic feet of ‘associated gas’ from Guyana’s offshore oil field. In just these few months ExxonMobil has transformed Guyana into one of the top ten gas flaring countries in the world! As of June 2nd, 2020, Esso continues to flare more than 15 million cubic feet per day.
The flaring is a breach of what we were promised. In 2017, the Minister of Natural Resources said, “We also determined that under no circumstances… there will be flaring of the gas”. The environmental permit to Esso clearly prohibits routine flaring and requires Esso to re-inject the associated gas at its cost. The flaring goes against the Guyana’s government’s green commitment!
Why does this matter to you?
- The amount of energy from the gas destroyed, to date, is roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity the whole country of Guyana consumes in a year.
- Incomplete flaring of natural gas produces methane which is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide in causing climate change. That means hotter weather in Guyana and more overtopping of the seawall that protects Guyana’s low lying capital city and agricultural areas.
- Air pollution from flaring damages the lungs and can increase the danger to health and life during the covid-19 pandemic
Exxon was fined US$2.5 million in 2017 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice for flaring gas on American soil. Additionally, as part of its settlement with the US government, Exxon had to outlay US$300 million for monitoring and pollution control technologies at its plants in Louisiana and Texas. In 2020 it is even more unacceptable to be flaring gas. By signing this petition, you will let the Guyanese government know ExxonMobil must stop flaring immediately. We will also ask the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the ‘polluter pays’ principle and seek compensation from ExxonMobil for enough funds to remove an equal amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. We intend to submit this petition to Guyana’s EPA.
Note: This petition was created by concerned Guyanese who are civic minded and environmentally conscious. It was reviewed and supported by a legal team.
