Former EPA Executive Director Dr Vincent Adams is warning that the reported “anomaly” involving the Gas-to-Energy pipeline should serve as a serious warning for Guyana’s future natural gas operations, noting that the country lacks the technical expertise and regulatory oversight needed to respond to a major offshore incident.
Adams spoke with Kiskadee Watch yesterday following claims of a defect in the subsea pipeline, noting that while the line currently contains nitrogen rather than natural gas, a similar occurrence after the pipeline becomes operational could have far more serious consequences.
He questioned the government’s oversight of the matter, saying that if reports suggesting the anomaly had existed for months were accurate, regulators should have been aware of it much earlier. The incident, he said, underscores Guyana’s inadequate preparedness to oversee the rapidly expanding oil and gas sector.
Adams said that after the change in administration in 2020, the government scrapped a World Bank-supported plan to establish a specialised petroleum unit within the Environmental Proetction Agency (EPA) and abandoned programmes to train Guyanese in petroleum engineering and establish petroleum engineering courses at the University of Guyana.
He argued that those initiatives would have equipped the EPA with the expertise needed to independently monitor offshore petroleum operations rather than relying on oil companies for technical assessments.
Adams further charged that the EPA lacks personnel trained in petroleum engineering and said that several regulatory safeguards introduced during his tenure, including an unlimited parent company guarantee to cover the costs of a major oil spill, were removed after he left office.
He also accused ExxonMobil of wielding excessive influence over Guyana’s petroleum sector, arguing that regulators have neither the capacity nor the willingness to challenge the company and instead depend largely on information it provides.
Adams said that had he remained head of the EPA, he would have immediately ordered an independent investigation into the pipeline issue, required ExxonMobil to present a repair plan, reviewed leak detection measures for deep-water operations and demanded a comprehensive emergency response plan before natural gas is introduced into the pipeline.
He maintained that Guyana currently lacks the independent oversight capability needed to effectively regulate offshore petroleum operations and warned that the country remains vulnerable should a significant gas leak or other offshore emergency occur.
His comments came after the EPA and the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) rejected claims that the subsea Gas-to-Energy pipeline had ruptured, insisting there was “no factual basis” for the allegations.
The agencies said no natural gas is currently flowing through the pipeline because it is not yet operational and therefore “there can be no leak or damage of the nature suggested in these reports.”
According to a joint statement, ExxonMobil Guyana has been conducting a scheduled inspection of the subsea pipeline since May. The agencies said they jointly investigated a reported anomaly and determined it to be slight, with additional inspections continuing “out of an abundance of caution” to confirm the pipeline’s integrity.
The statement followed allegations by Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, who released videos from a vessel offshore.
The subsea pipeline is a key component of the Gas-to-Energy Project, which is expected to transport associated natural gas from the Liza offshore development to the Wales Development Zone to supply a 300-megawatt gas-fired power plant and natural gas liquids facility.
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