(EMGL) although the sum will not be required until production comes to a halt in the Stabroek Block. In the oil and gas industry, decommissioning refers to the process of safely dismantling and disposing of offshore and onshore oil and gas facilities once they reach the end of their productive life. This involves cleaning up the site, removing equipment, plugging wells to prevent leaks, and restoring the environment as closely as possible to its original state.

Decommissioning is also a costly exercise, sometimes demanding billions of US dollars hence countries are often advised to mandate that oil companies set aside money in a fund for this purpose. This fund ensures that the country is not left to carry the burden of handling those costs which ought to be covered by the oil companies. To date, over $70B has been drawn out of Guyana’s oil towards decommissioning by Exxon. Earlier this year, the country’s chief policymaker on petroleum, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo revealed that efforts are being made to allow Guyana to have joint control of the decommissioning account to allow for greater transparency and accountability of the fund.

Currently, Exxon still holds the key to fund as government is still working towards this objective. This is according to Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat. In an exclusive interview at the sidelines of an event last week, the Minister told Kaieteur News: “We have a consultant that is working on that right now for us; the same consultant that has been working with us all the time, S&P Global. They are working with us on putting that together so we’ll have more information once we get that.” He declined to answer further questions as he shuffled off to another event.

In its 2024 Annual Report, EMGL, the operator of the Stabroek Block reported that it has already drawn about $70.4B for decommissioning to date. Notably, Exxon’s co-venturers also enjoy the privilege of taking and controlling clean up monies. (Kaieteur News)