ExxonMobil Guyana will begin public engagements on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its proposed Longtail development on April 13, its President Alistair Routledge said.
Routledge discussed this phase of the review process for Exxon’s eighth Guyana development during a press conference on March 19 at the company’s Ogle operational centre.
“We just submitted the environmental and social impact assessment to the [Environmental Protection Agency], and you should have seen an announcement in some of the papers just the last few days, that we’re going to begin the 60-day consultation process,” he said.
Routledge explained that the consultations are intended to allow residents to review the studies and raise concerns.
“Sharing all of these studies with people across the country, giving people the opportunity to ask questions and to raise any concerns to ensure that those are then fed back into the EIA process, so that when we do progress with the project, it recognizes all of those concerns and we’ve mitigated risks to the best that is feasible,” he stated.
He said the first public engagement will be held in the hinterland town of Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini).
Additional consultations are planned in other areas, including the capital. “If you prefer to wait for one in Georgetown at the Umana Yana on April 28, and various other locations around the country…” he said.
Routledge said the proposed development is linked to discoveries in the southeastern part of the Stabroek Block, as with the expected ninth project, Haimara.
He explained how the Longtail and Haimara areas fit into the broader development plan. “Collectively from Longtail through Haimara is what we would call the southeast gas area and Haimara would be the anchor for the next project, just as Longtail is the anchor for a number of discoveries that were made in that area.”
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Routledge also announced that the company would submit the field development plan (FDP) for the Longtail project by the end of last week.
Longtail is expected to produce 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and about 250,000 barrels per day of condensate. The development is scheduled to begin production in 2030 and is projected to operate for roughly 30 years.
Exxon operates the Stabroek Block with a 45% interest, while Hess (owned by Chevron) holds a 30% interest and CNOOC holds 25%.
