Jun 17, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton said he does not believe in the governance methodology being employed by the incumbent regime that allows ExxonMobil to deduct the country’s oil revenue for decommissioning activities, years before it is required. ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) in its 2023 Annual Report revealed that a whopping US$51.7 million was set aside for decommissioning.
Decommissioning refers to clean up and restoration activities, following the life of an oil project. The process involves the safe plugging of wells, removal of the Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, purging and detachment of risers and removal of the subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines (SURF). Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton Notably, this process will be conducted at the end of each project’s life, which is estimated to be 20 years.
Guyana’s first oil project, the Liza One, commenced production activities in 2019. This means that the project is expected to be decommissioned in 2039. Two other projects, the Liza Two and Payara, subsequently came on stream in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
As such, those projects will be decommissioned in 2042 and 2043 respectively. Be that as it may, ExxonMobil is already deducting the country’s oil revenues for the future activities. Norton in an invited comment during his weekly press briefing on Friday told this newspaper, “I do not believe that is right form of governance in terms of.
