ExxonMobil seeking new consultants to conduct environmental studies
Kaieteur News – Following criticisms about its use of a lone Consultant to conduct environmental studies, ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) has now issued a Request For Information (RFI) seeking consultancy services for environmental studies.
The RFI was issued by the operator of the Stabroek Block on Monday. Kaieteur News understands that the company will issue a separate Request For Proposal (RFP) for Consultancy Services for Environmental, Regulatory, and Socioeconomic (ER&S) Management.
According to the RFI seen by this newspaper, the qualified consultants will be tasked with developing technical proposals and conducting assessments and/or modeling for coastal and marine biodiversity and ecosystems (e.g., mangroves, coastal and marine birds, reptiles, and mammals); offshore and nearshore fisheries; physical and chemical characterization of offshore, nearshore, and terrestrial ecosystems; offshore and onshore emissions and discharges (air, acoustic and treated wastewater discharge, and unplanned events such as emergency flaring and spills) via modelling; socioeconomic settings (e.g., traffic, livelihoods, community health, fisheries etc.); social infrastructure and services; cultural heritage and / or archeological surveys; and coastal sensitivity and ecosystem services- to name a few.
The assessments will be used to craft Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs); Cumulative Impact Assessments; Environmental and/or Social Management Plans; Stakeholder Engagement Plans; and Environmental Monitoring Plans.
Exxon informed that the services are intended to support its activities including but not limited to offshore oil and gas production operations and support activities (e.g., Floating Production Storage and Offloading units, support vessels and helicopters); onshore support activities (e.g., shorebases, office buildings, communication infrastructure, waste management, potential major projects, etc.); onshore infrastructure; offshore seismic acquisition; geophysical, geotechnical and environmental baseline and monitoring surveys; and drilling operations (including rig import, in-water activities, exploration, appraisal, and development wells).
To date, Exxon has predominantly utilized the services of Environmental Resources Management (ERM), a London based Consultancy group. That firm was accused of conducting “cut and paste” EIAs for Exxon’s oil projects.
Since Exxon discovered oil in 2015 off the shores of Guyana, it has consistently hired that company to conduct its EIAs. In fact, ERM has completed five of the six sanctioned oil projects. ERM was also used to conduct an EIA for the oil company’s Gas-to-Energy (GTE) pipeline project. Exxon had contracted Texas-based Acorn International for one of its EIAs.
The decision to select another Consultant was forced after Exxon was pressured by environmentalists, who questioned the independence of ERM. In December 2021, a group of Environmentalists wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting that it disclose the list of other qualified consultants, from which the Environmental Resources Management was selected to conduct EIAs. In the document seen by this publication, the experts Simone Mangal-Joly, Alfred Buhlai, Vanda Radzik, Janette Bulkan, Denuta Radzik, Jerry Jailall, Alissa Trotz and Maya Trotz questioned the independence of ERM since records show that the ExxonMobil subsidiary has only ever selected the ERM to conduct all its Environmental Impact Assessments and management plans.
