Exxon confident in escaping the blaze in 2021 – Environmentalist – Kaieteur News

Exxon confident in escaping the blaze in 2021 – Environmentalist


Torch at Liza Destiny’s FPSO

Environmentalist, Annette Arjoon-Martins.

Kaieteur News – The fact that ExxonMobil has not been seen as suitable to replace the malfunctioning gas compression plant in its Phase One Liza project shows the oil tycoon’s apparent lack of concern for Guyana’s environment and his complete confidence that he can escape from torch in 2021.
That was the view put forward by a passionate Environmentalist and President of the Guyana Marine Conservation Society, Annette Arjoon-Martins in response to Guyana’s Esso Exploration and Production (EEPGL) announcement that torching at Liza Destiny’s FPSO will rise above pilot levels after a technical issue came across the ship’s gas compressor.
That same gas compressor was allegedly installed in December last year after malfunctioning for months, resulting in the flaming of over a billion cubic feet of gas along with the release of toxic chemicals.
Only at the end of December 2019 was the company supposed to briefly flame gas in order to fully test and commission the on-site gas compression and injection systems; however, it ended up flashing gas longer than expected, for more than a year in fact.
In an invited comment, Arjoon-Martins conveyed that she was not surprised at the announcement, as she received images of torches at the FPSO for most of January.
Further elaborating, he stated “When I posted one of the torches on the 13th of January, 2021, PR Exxon in their usual doubles owned up to two hours of torching that day due to an ‘unexpected temporary break on the ship and returned to normal. operations less than two hours later ‘. They did not share which piece of equipment was malfunctioning. They should identify whether the same faulty gas compressor that took the whole of 2020 to finally become ‘fixed’ in December 2020. ”
This time, Exxon informed in their operations update that the technical issue related to the seal on the gas compressor. He said malfunctioning will cause a temporary increase in torches to maintain safe operations.
However, the Environmentalist referred to Article 3.13 in Liza One’s Environmental Permit, which makes it abundantly clear that the oil tycoon must have spare equipment available to accommodate any sudden shortfalls.
The verbatim article states, “Efforts should be made to prevent equipment break-up and increase plants that could cause flare-ups and provisions should be made for plant saving and plant rejection protocols where practicable.”
But the provision is so vague that it does not explicitly state that a company must have “spare” equipment on hand.
And given that the last malfunction caused over 14 billion cubic feet of gas worth US $ 26 million to be flamed, Arjoon-Martins expressed alarm that the company has not moved to replace it.
Even more alarming, he also noted is the fact that the company is allowed to behave in such a way during a climate crisis.
The environmentalist stressed that Exxon needs to be “held accountable” for their continuing environmental pollution.
However, it is unclear what censure the company would face as Guyana’s environmental watchdog; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been mum on Exxon’s recent update.



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