ExxonMobil’s Environmental Impact Assessment for its eighth offshore project, Longtail, has failed to address two critical concerns raised during public scoping meetings held between March 17 and 28, 2025, according to local media reports.
During consultations mandated by Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency, questions were submitted regarding the potential for offshore workers and nearby communities to develop non-communicable diseases, including cancer, as a result of flaring and other petroleum related activities. Exxon representatives responded by describing existing safety design measures, such as flare positioning and personal protective equipment, but declined to confirm whether the risk of illness had been formally evaluated. The completed EIA, prepared by Acorn International on behalf of ExxonMobil, does not include a health risk assessment addressing this concern.
A separate question regarding the potential financial cost of an oil spill also went unanswered in the study. Guyana has not commissioned any independent economic analysis of what a major spill in the Stabroek Block could cost the country or neighbouring Caribbean nations. A consultant working on a prior ExxonMobil project previously acknowledged on the record that no such financial modelling had been conducted. ExxonMobil currently holds a US$600 million insurance policy per spill event and has submitted a US$2 billion guarantee to the EPA, amounts that critics and stakeholders have described as insufficient.
Guyana’s Environmental Protection Act of 1996 requires that all questions raised during public scoping meetings be addressed in the final EIA. The legislation also mandates that assessments evaluate direct and indirect effects of proposed projects on human beings, ecosystems, natural resources, and other environmental factors.
Concerns about transparency in the consultation process extend beyond the Longtail project. On several occasions dating back to 2023, journalists and members of the public have reportedly been prevented from posing questions during ExxonMobil’s publicly hosted scoping sessions. In one documented instance, a moderator shut down an entire meeting rather than allow a publisher to ask questions about cumulative project impacts.
ExxonMobil has not issued a public response to the specific omissions identified in the Longtail EIA. The EPA has also not commented on whether the assessment meets the requirements set out under Guyanese environmental law.
Source: Kaieteur News
