WHEREAS:
ExxonMobil operates one of the largest oil plays discovered in the past decade, offshore of Guyana. Production began in 2019, 1 with capacity expected to exceed one million bpd by 2030.2
ExxonMobil is exceeding its safety thresholds for production in two offshore projects in Guyana.3 Production in one project has surpassed 150,000 bpd,4 clearly above the listed peak production safety threshold of 120,000 bpd and the “potential peak production volume of 144,000 bpd” used for calculating impacts in ExxonMobil’s 2018 environmental impact assessment (EIA),5 raising concerns among observers.6 The August 2023 cumulative impact assessment for the Starbroek block merely recycles information from the original EIA7 despite significant increases in safety thresholds for that project, making its calculations vast underestimates. A former director of Guyana’s environmental protection agency called this increased production “unheard of” and stated ExxonMobil is “without a conscience and ruthlessly taking advantage of an abysmal EPA and weak Government” in Guyana.8
ExxonMobil’s assessments do not account for the increased risk of a spill with wells operating above safety thresholds, for an extended oil release similar to the BP Macondo disaster, or for severe weather conditions beyond historic trends due to climate change.
Despite claiming substantial implementation of this proposal last year, ExxonMobil has not conducted an analysis of the potential economic costs of an oil spill.9 Caribbean countries in a potential spill zone rely on tourism and fishing industries to support their economies,10 yet ExxonMobil characterizes risk to the economy and employment as minor and assumes that a large oil spill is unlikely.11
However, Robert Bea, an expert on the Macondo spill, warns ExxonMobil shows “ignorance of risk management fundamentals” in its Guyana operations and mirrors BP’s overconfidence preceding the Macondo disaster.12 The most severe spill scenario in ExxonMobil’s EIA accounts for only a 30-day spill.13 The Macondo spill released millions of barrels of oil, covering thousands of miles of the Gulf of Mexico, over 87 days.14 BP stock plummeted 52% over two months.15
ExxonMobil’s responsibility and potential liability for its Guyana operations are of great concern to investors