Page 5 - LatAmOil Week 49 2022

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

Ali, meanwhile, noted that Hess had arranged to allocate the carbon credits, this opens the door
buy a total of 37.5mn carbon credits, or 2.5mn for the company’s stake at Stabroek to be consid-
carbon credits per year for the period between ered carbon neutral,” it commented.
2016 and 2030.
This will include 12.5mn “legacy” carbon Mobilising support
credits from the 2016-2020 interval, when The deal looks set to be a money-maker, as well
the government was led by former President as carbon-neutral. OilNOW.gy pointed out that
David Granger, and the purchases will be made Hess had agreed to pay $750mn for the carbon
between 2022 and 2032, he explained. credit, or about three times as much as the max-
Hess, for its part, noted that the credits imum amount Norway had offered Guyana
involved in the transactions would be listed on under a 2009 agreement on financial support
ART’s public registry and independently veri- for deforestation programmes.
fied to ensure that they met the TREES stand- This is, at least in theory, a positive thing, as it
ard for permanent and additional reductions in promises to raise the amount of money flowing Hess will buy
emissions. It also made note of ART’s issuance into the coffers of the programmes the carbon
and validation of 33.47mn legacy credits for the credits are designed to support. Georgetown 37.5mn carbon
2016-2020 period. has said it will use some of the funds to maintain
99.5% of its existing forests, which cover 18mn credits from
Carbon neutrality hectares and are capable of storing about 20bn
These two developments are even more signif- tCO2e. It will also direct some of the money to Guyana, more
icant in light of the fact that they could end up programmes that support and benefit the coun- than enough to
being part of a process that transforms Hess’ try’s indigenous communities.
entire stake in the Stabroek project into a car- But oil companies will now be directly cover Stabroek’s
bon-neutral asset. involved in that effort too. Hess made that clear
In a post on LinkedIn earlier this week, Wel- during the ceremony where his company signed projected total
ligence Energy Analytics (US) noted that the US the carbon credit purchase agreement with
independent was set to buy 37.5mn carbon cred- Guyana’s government. He emphasised the ESG emissions of
its from Guyana, or 37.5mn tonnes of carbon aspects of the deal, saying: “We are pleased to 30mn tonnes
dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). This is more than support the country’s efforts to advance sustain-
four times as much as Hess’ share of the Stabroek able development and advance the quality of life of CO2 in
project’s total projected CO2 emissions during of the people in Guyana.”
the 2022-2032 period, assuming that ExxonMo- His words were in line with remarks made 2022-2032-
bil, the US super-major that is serving as oper- by Norway’s Minister for Climate and Environ-
ator, fulfils the expectation that it will install 10 ment Espen Barth-Eide, who indicated that he
floating production, storage and off-loading saw the South American state’s deal with Hess
(FPSO) vessels, Welligence said. Stabroek’s total as an extension of Oslo’s 2009 deal with George-
emissions are set to reach 30mn tCO2e between town. “It is great to see Guyana fulfilling its
2022 and 2032, it explained, with Hess’ equity vision from 2009, to mobilise international pri-
share coming to 9mn tCO2e. vate capital in support of its Low Carbon Devel-
This has the potential to reduce the emissions opment Strategy,” he commented. “Norway is
intensity of Hess’ portfolio, Welligence said. proud to have been a partner of Guyana in this
“While Hess has other projects to which it could journey.” ™

Stabroek contains Guyana’s only two producing oilfields, Liza-1 and Liza-2 (Image: Hess)

Week 49 07•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P5