Message From the Editor

About 100 miles off the coast of Guyana, along the northern edge of South America, a new exploratory well is being drilled on behalf of ExxonMobil. The drilling takes aim at a 9 billion-barrel oilfield recently discovered in the waters off Guyana. Exxon is now putting Guyana at the heart of its plans to press on hunting for new fossil fuel supplies despite the climate crisis. Sharon Kelly reports.

Meanwhile, a new report finds that the productivity of ExxonMobil’s wells in the Permian basin declined in 2019, raising “troubling questions about the quality” of its assets. Exxon has long described its Permian holdings as “world class,” and the company prides itself on being an industry leader in both size and profitability. Yet, it’s wells in the region produced less oil on average in 2019 than they did in 2018, according to a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. Nick Cunningham explains.

Finally, in case you missed it, more than 2,000 people began gathering at an undisclosed location in Northern Minnesota earlier this week, answering a call from Indigenous Anishinaabe people and a coalition of environmental groups to disrupt the construction of the Line 3 pipeline. Nearly 200 people were arrested while Indigenous and environmental groups, and even some elected officials, condemned the aggressive use of a helicopter to disperse protesters. Read more here.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: editor@desmogblog.com.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you make it possible for DeSmog to hold accountable powerful people in industry and government. Even a $10 or $20 donation helps support DeSmog’s investigative journalism.

Oil Drilling in the ‘Land of Water’: ExxonMobil Hunts for More Fossil Fuels in Guyana Amid Sea Level Rise Fears

— By Sharon Kelly (7 min. read) —

About 100 miles off the coast of Guyana, along the northern edge of South America, the drillship Stena Carron spent Saturday, June 5 drilling a new exploratory well on behalf of ExxonMobil. The drilling takes aim at a 9 billion-barrel oilfield recently discovered in the waters off Guyana. Exxon is now putting Guyana at the heart of its plans to press on hunting for new fossil fuel supplies despite the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, much of Guyana itself was underwater following heavy rains that unleashed historic flooding. Over 25,000 households — in a small country with just over 200,000 homes — have been inundated.

Exxon is Telling Investors its Permian Fracking Projects are ‘World Class’. The Data Says Otherwise.

— By Nick Cunningham (4 min. read) —

ExxonMobil’s production numbers in the Permian basin in West Texas and New Mexico appear to have deteriorated in 2019, according to new analysis, calling into question the company’s claims that it is an industry leader and that its operations are steadily becoming more efficient over time.

Chastened by years of poor returns and rising angst among its own shareholders, ExxonMobil narrowed its priorities in 2020 to just a few overarching areas of interest, focusing on its massive offshore oil discoveries in Guyana and its Permian basin assets, two areas positioned as the very core of the company’s growth strategy.

Hundreds Arrested at Line 3 ‘Treaty People Gathering.’ Water Protectors Vow To Continue Until the Pipeline is Canceled

— By Nick Cunningham (5 min. read) —

Nearly 200 people were arrested on Monday while protesting the Line 3 pipeline, a long-distance tar sands pipeline that runs across Indigenous land and threatens food and water resources, including the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Indigenous and environmental groups, and even some elected officials, condemned the aggressive use of a helicopter to disperse protesters.

More than 2,000 people began gathering at an undisclosed location in Northern Minnesota over the weekend, answering a call from Indigenous Anishinaabe people and a coalition of environmental groups to disrupt the construction of the pipeline.

Shale Oil Fraud Case Reveals Executives Ignore Their Own Engineers and Mislead Investors

— By Justin Mikulka (7 min. read) —

In April, a judge ruled that a lawsuit filed by former investors in the shale oil company Alta Mesa could proceed. Their case alleges multiple instances of fraud and reveals that not only did engineers in the company warn executives that they were lying to investors about oil production estimates but that executives went on to ignore those warnings.

Alta Mesa is among a string of oil and gas companies that in recent years have either been accused or found guilty of fraud, including ExxonMobil and Miller Energy.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: The American Farm Bureau Federation

The American Farm Bureau Federation calls itself the “unified national voice of agriculture” in the US. The AFBF acts as the cornerstone organization in a network of affiliated state-level Farm Bureau non-profits and insurance providers. For decades, the Farm Bureau network, which has links to the fossil fuel industry, lobbied against climate action and spread climate science denial in farming communities and in capitals across the US. Despite softening its messages on climate science, as of August 2020 the AFBF opposes a “near term” end to the use of fossil fuels. It also continues to support fracking, expanding the use of coal and other forms of fossil fuel production.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.