IEEFA analyst Tom Sanzillo writes: “Guyana government officials face an upcoming decision on a request to renew an environmental permit for offshore oil operations in the Liza 1 field, an extensive area of seabed owned by Guyana. ExxonMobil has requested that the government weaken the environmental protections contained in the prior permit. Although Guyana and ExxonMobil had previously agreed to a policy of zero routine air emissions, the company is now asking Guyana to approve a system of “incremental non-routine” flaring. The change, if companies receive an unfair revenue split, and Guyana is having to borrow money to pay for new spending. Guyana cannot close its budget deficits because it is receiving too little revenue from the Liza project. At the same time, Guyana has provided substantial tax giveaways to the oil companies and handed them a lucrative decommissioning deal that allows the companies to pocket $3.2 billion.”