AFC Demands Stricter Safeguards and Full Oil Spill Liabilities Before Approving Future Petroleum Projects

By| Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — Asserting that Guyana has outgrown its status as a “frontier” petroleum producer, Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader David Patterson has called on the state to freeze approvals for upcoming offshore exploration and production licenses until the regulatory framework is completely overhauled.

Patterson made the policy declaration during an economic brief on Thursday, responding directly to a wave of newly tabled production applications submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources by ExxonMobil Guyana and its Stabroek Block co-venturers. The opposition lawmaker argued that nearly a decade of continuous operational experience must now be used as strategic leverage to secure robust environmental safeguards and stricter fiscal protections for the country.

Moving Beyond the “Frontier State” Framework

The AFC clarified that it is not structurally opposed to foreign direct investment or the expanded exploration of the country’s extensive hydrocarbon basins. However, Patterson insisted that the administration cannot continue to utilize a pliant regulatory template designed for a decade-old industry.

“We have to draw the line somewhere,” Patterson stated accessibly during his briefing. “The question of exploratory and operational costs must be limited strictly to current projects. Guyana is now into its eighth year of continuous crude oil production. By now, all operational risks are thoroughly known, and ExxonMobil has had ample time to explore freely. The time is absolutely right for Guyana to review how it can secure far greater returns and structural benefits from its own natural resources.”

The AFC leader highlighted four primary unresolved structural policy areas that must be legally regularized before any new production permits are signed off by the Cabinet:

Demanding Written Parent-Company Guarantees Over Capped Assurances

Patterson focused heavily on the long-standing dispute regarding environmental liabilities. He argued that public debates should move past the fixed financial limits of insurance policies or localized banking guarantees and instead focus on securing explicit, uncapped corporate commitments in writing.

“It is not a question of the amount of money that ExxonMobil should put up,” Patterson explained to reporters. “It is a question of their baseline commitment. It must be codified in writing that, should the unfortunate occasion of an offshore oil spill occur, they are legally bound to step in and fully clear it up entirely at their own corporate expense.”

The statement touches on a sensitive point in Guyanese corporate law: the legal separation between parent corporations and their local subsidiaries. Without an explicit, written parent-company guarantee (PCG) linking the global corporation directly to local cleanup liabilities, a catastrophic failure could leave a limited-liability subsidiary to declare bankruptcy, sticking local taxpayers with the multi-billion-dollar bill for an environmental disaster.

A Critique of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Litigation Track Record

The AFC leader directed sharp criticism at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), charging that the state regulator is failing to act as an independent watchdog for the public interest.

Patterson pointed directly to the agency’s highly controversial litigation history in the local courts. While the Court of Appeal recently moved on May 7, 2026, to overturn a landmark 2023 High Court judgment by Justice Sandil Kissoon—which had initially ordered an unlimited parent-company guarantee for the Liza Phase 1 project—Patterson noted that the legal battle is now heading to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

“We find that the EPA is simply not serving the country well as a regulator,” Patterson asserted. “Irrespective of the latest appellate ruling, they have simply lost too many statutory cases in court.”

He noted that from landmark challenges regarding parent guarantees to judicial reviews in March 2025 that found the EPA acted unlawfully by omitting Scope 3 indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the Hammerhead project’s environmental terms, the regulator continues to exhibit a submissive posture toward oil operators.

The AFC plans to introduce a comprehensive slate of 34 legislative amendments when the 13th Parliament officially reconvenes on June 5, aimed at legally codifying full-coverage corporate liability and expanding local regulatory powers before the country enters its next major phase of deepwater production.