The Environmental Permit for ExxonMobil Guyana’s Liza Phase 1 project has been recalled and modified to include more stringent regulatory requirements are in place to address flaring in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s legislation.
A notice from the EPA posted on Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo’s Facebook page on Thursday, stated that the modified permit was issued to ExxonMobil Guyana on May 13 after being signed by both the company and the EPA.
According to the notice, the revised Environmental Permit features modified terms and conditions relating to the emission reporting requirements, technical considerations for flaring, and timelines for flaring events. Additionally, the revised Permit contains an obligation on ExxonMobil Guyana to pay for the emission of Carbon Dioxide (CO2 equivalent) as a result of flaring in excess of these timelines.
That payment shall be made to the EPA and is calculated at the rate of US$30 per tonne of CO2e.
According to the EPA’s notice, the change was due to the technical difficulties experienced offshore Guyana abroad the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.
“The company was projected to exceed the 14 billion standard cubic feet (bcf) of gas estimated to be flared by the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project on May 13, 2021,” the EPA said.
In light of this, the EPA and ExxonMobil have been engaged in discussions regarding the technical and legal issues regarding modifications to address flaring.
ExxonMobil resumed flaring above pilot on the vessel after encountering another technical mishap with the flash gas compressor back on April 13.
It was during the final testing phase of the reinstalled flash gas compressor and other components of the system on the Liza Destiny FPSO that an additional problem with the discharge silencer was encountered.
