ExxonMobil insists it has financial capacity to meet oil spill obligations

President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge yesterday insisted that it has the financial capacity to meet its responsibilities in the unlikely event of an oil spill and says it is committed to paying all “legitimate” costs.

The statement came amid renewed concerns about the nature of the insurance commitment made by ExxonMobil and its partners in relation to any spill at its two functioning oil extraction platforms and a third that is currently under construction in Singapore.

The issue was raised again in the last Sunday Stabroek  by the former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Vincent Adams. He contended in a letter that ExxonMobil had agreed to an insurance sum of US$2.5b and beyond for the Liza-2 well which began operations last month.