Where is the legally required parent company guarantee to cover an oil spill in Guyana's Stabroek Oil Block? Sign this petition to demand that Exxon honour their oil spill commitment in Guyana.

We draw to your attention the failure of Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce the legal requirement for full liability coverage by the parent companies – ExxonMobil Corporation of Irving, Texas; China National Offshore Oil Corporation (owned by the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) of the People’s Republic of China) and Hess Corporation, New York – in the event of any oil spill(s) for which they are legally responsible in Guyana’s sovereign waters.

This requirement for full liability coverage is set out in the environmental permits issued to Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL). EEPGL is the operating company and permit holder. EEPGL is a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.

The permits have been signed by authorised representatives of the parties, and are dated and sealed. EEPGL thus acknowledges what it should do – that is, issue the letters of guarantee. The time limit allowed in the permits is long past. Thus EEPGL is in default of its legal obligations.

The intentions of the clauses on full liability coverage are clear in the environmental permits issued by the EPA for the four oil fields. The clauses are backed by section 4 (4) sub-sections (a) to (c) of the EP Act.

The EPA should have informed the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of these defaults, and the DPP should have instructed a police prosecutor, as this is a case of criminal wrong-doing.

Minister, we demand that Guyana must not be liable for any of the costs if there were an oil spill for which the ExxonMobil consortium or its affiliates/contractor have legal responsibilities. The aforementioned parent companies of consortium members EEPGL, Hess and CNOOC must comply with the terms of the permits issued to the consortium and guarantee full liability coverage.

We demand the release of the signed guarantees by the parent companies of ExxonMobil, Hess, and CNOOC that they will cover ALL costs for control, clean-up, compensation and restoration costs for oil spills and other environmental pollution, as well as contingent liabilities and settlements costs, over and above the completely inadequate insurance payout, as required by the law and as specified in the environmental permits for the Stabroek Block issued by the Environment Protection Agency.

Extract from section 12.5 of Environmental Permit issued to EEPGL by the EPA for the Liza-2 oil field, dated 17 January 2022:
“The permit holder must…provide from the Parent Company or Affiliate Companies…one or more legally binding agreements to the EPA, undertaking to provide adequate financial resources…to pay….their respective environmental obligations…if EEPGL or its Co-Ventures fail to do so….”

https://www.oggn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Liza-Phase2-EPA-Permit-20220117.pdf

Petitioning Organizations:
Red Thread, https://redthreadguyana.org
Oil & Gas Governance Network, https://www.oggn.org