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MP Vickram Bharrat provided misleading, deceptive information to Parliament about oil production – David Patterson
Kaieteur News – Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat told the National Assembly on Friday that the current oil production is within the limits stipulated in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the three oil-producing projects in the Stabroek block.
Congressman David Patterson
In a written response to Alliance for Change (AFC) MP David Patterson, the minister explained: “I must point out that the maximum production permitted under the Liza Phase II ESIA (Unity FPSO) is 300,000 barrels per day, while the maximum production permitted under the Payara ESIA is 264,000 barrels per day… The maximum production permitted under the Liza Phase I ESIA is 144,000 barrels per day.”
Therefore, the Minister reasoned: “the facilities are clearly still operating within their approved production rates.”
Data on the Ministry of Natural Resources website show that Liza One produces up to 160,000 barrels per day, while Liza Two produced more than 250,000 barrels per day in July. Meanwhile, the third project, Payara, produces between 230,000 and 250,000 barrels per day.
In his question, Patterson asked the secretary to provide copies of documents submitted by ExxonMobil detailing the technical and environmental assessments conducted to justify production exceeding what the Environmental Protection Agency had previously approved.
Payara EIA said the project’s impact assessment was based on a baseline of 264kbd, with a peak design production rate of 220kbd. (Source: Payara EIA)
Bharrat explained in his response that production optimization is standard practice worldwide and is implemented in many producing fields once the facilities are commissioned. He noted that while the approval of the field development plan (FDP) is in line with the licensee’s best estimate of expected production, floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) are designed to accommodate higher production levels.
The Minister of Natural Resources further clarified that production optimization and the resulting increase in output is not done casually but is closely monitored by ExxonMobil Guyana, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Environmental Protection Agency until the approved production levels are achieved and the performance of the reservoirs and facilities is up to that purpose, concluding that “production optimization, when done safely and efficiently, will bring benefits to all stakeholders, including government.”
Deception and misleading
Meanwhile, former Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson told this newspaper that the response provided by the minister to the House of Representatives was pure “deception and misleading”.
Patterson noted that Liza One’s EIA highlighted its peak production as 120,000 barrels per day, while Liza Two and the Payara project were designed to produce 220,000 barrels per day each.
The “maximum production rates” for the three projects cited by the minister are actually figures used by experts preparing environmental impact assessments to arrive at the potential impacts of the projects rather than safe operating limits.
“When the operators designed these FPSOs, they had specific production rates of 120,000 and 220,000 barrels per day,” Patterson said. “Liza One is producing 163,000 barrels per day, 40,000 barrels per day more than designed… He did not say whether the design was fully up to design.”
The table confirms that Liza One’s production is higher than the FPSO’s design production. (Source Liza One EIA)
The former minister believes that by increasing the production of the FPSO beyond the design output mentioned in the Environmental Impact Assessment, Guyanese are not aware of the impact the project will have on the environment.
“They haven’t done any further public consultation, and the EPA is undermining the state because for each project, they are telling the state what the hazards are for an FPSO that produces 200,000 barrels of oil a year; but if you now increase production to 260,000 or 280,000 barrels, they should hold another public hearing because the dangers will increase.”
Source: Liza Two The EIA said the facility can “safely operate” at peak rates of up to 250 kpd. (Source: Liza Two EIA)
For example, he explained, oil production creates associated gas and produced water, and the public is not aware of how they are handled.
Furthermore, he questioned: “If they want to de-bottleneck (optimize), why don’t they design it in upfront, instead of starting with 220 and then pushing it all the way to the new number six or eight months later.”
As a result, Patterson said the response that Bharat provided to the National Assembly, and to the citizens of Guyana, “was both deceptive and misleading, and I think to the disservice of this country.”
The congressman also requested copies of technical assessments conducted by the EPA and other agencies to verify that operations exceeding the design rate were safe, but those were not provided. He said he was told ExxonMobil submitted those documents to the agency, which reviewed and approved them. “I didn’t get an answer as to why it can’t be made public,” Patterson said.
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