Dear Editor,
It is ironic that Guyana, one of the world’s leading ‘green’ nations, an oil-producing nation with zero net emissions, a seller of carbon credits, has an ‘environmental’ issue nationally; I speak of the group of ‘Environmental activists’ in our midst who are seeking to derail our oil economy. This group wrote to the Prime Minister of Barbados to ask for her support to stop the oil production for fear oil spill would harm Barbados’ tourism industry; they have filed lawsuits to stop oil production on every imaginable basis, including the lack of ‘unlimited’ insurance coverage in the event of a spill. These actions raise two critical points for the Guyanese people to address with some urgency – 1. Are we doing enough to protect the environment from a possible oil spill? 2 – Are we committed to being an oil producer or an enviormental utophia?
Four of the lawsuits filed relate to the Guyana government’s failure to properly manage the permit process and enforcement of permit provisions, all of these lawsuits ask for measures that are either impractical and/or drive the cost of oil production upwards and profits offshore to insurers and reinsurers. There are three companies involved in the exploration and production of oil in the Stabroek Block, ExxonMobil, China National Oil Offshore Oil Company, and Hess Corporation, can any of these companies survive if they leave an oil spill anywhere in the world uncleaned? No nation would grant permits for exploration or production to any such company. That in a nutshell is the ‘Parent Company Guarantee’ and it is the best and most cost-effective ‘real world’ solution to the possible oil spill.
With all due respect to Justice Sandil Kissoon, there is no such thing as ‘unlimited insurance’ even a ‘Sovereign Guarantee’ has limits, therefore Guyanese must decide if the existing insurance package of 2B USD (with additional terms that take it to 10B) is enough or if we want to spend 10-20M USD per additional Billion of insurance; are we willing to sacrifice 100M, 200M or even more annually, since no local or Caribbean Insurance company has the assets to issue such coverage and this will enrich some multi-national corporation at the expense of cost oil which Guyana ultimately pays. How many hospitals, roads, bridges, and social services are we willing to cut to satisfy the ‘unlimited’ demands of our ‘environmentalists’?
Can we be real-world savvy enough to accept that there has never been an oil spill left uncleaned by ExxonMobil (No one is completely happy with the Exxon Valdez spill 1989 cleanup) and be comforted by that fact and also that CNOOC is owned by the Chinese Government which will not countenance leaving a spill uncleaned; that Hess Corporation has invested heavily in Guyana, they will not allow the operator (ExxonMobil) to take risks or be unsafe in its production; the Hess generational family fortune is all-in the Stabroek Block. Exxon and all others have learned much since Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon (the two large spill events) and many safeguards are in place currently.
To those who dream of a ‘green’ utopia, free of fossil fuels, I will take you seriously when you can show me you are living a ‘fossil fuel free’ life, no electricity, potable water, phones, internet, that you are living in natural environments, no harmful concrete or murdered trees, solar power only if you promise to bury the expired panels and batteries in your own backyards! No doubt I will be subjected to chants of ‘climate change’ but can direct the group to the UN’s stance “Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Equally important, however, is the need to ensure access to energy for quality of life and for economic development.”
Editor, should all this fall on deaf ears, and should the EPA fail to get a stay of Justice Kissoon’s order (they most certainly will not get ‘unlimited insurance’) then the People and Government of Guyana (Administration and Opposition) must then decide if we are committed to being an oil-producing nation and if so, what amendments do we need to make to our Laws and Constitution so that we may continue to reap the benefits of oil. The founder of the German Empire, Otto Von Bismarck famously said “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable… the next best” and as we have seen in the fastest growing economy in the world, the possibilities with oil are unlimited!
Sincerely,
Robin Singh
