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OCEANA: Offshore Oil Exploration is a Definite "NO" for Belize

Press Release – Oceana – May 11, 2010 - Oceana is opposed to any offshore drilling in Belizean territorial waters and says all it takes is one spill of the magnitude of the Gulf Oil spill for Belize to lose everything. The recently released map prepared February 2010 by the Geology and Petroleum Department has confirmed previous speculation that massive oil exploration concessions have been granted throughout the country of Belize. This map shows that even the territorial waters of Belize has been divided up amongst eight of the seventeen companies which are grantees of these lease.

Oceana lobbies against offshore drilling

audrey matura shepherd

In addition to APAMO, the Belize Audubon Society also made known its concern today. Audubon believes that terrestrial drilling can be done feasibly but it is also concerned about drilling on the sea. OCEANA has also come out with a strong viewpoint on offshore drilling. According to Vice President of OCEANA, Audrey Matura Shepherd, after their research team reviewed the map along with extensive research in the area of offshore drilling throughout international counterparts, the organization will also lobby to prevent any drilling in our waters.

Audrey Matura Shepherd, VP, Oceana

"The position of Oceana is that absolutely no offshore drilling in Belize. We don't even want the government to contemplate it. Our position is strongly and emphatically no offshore drilling in this country. It is something that we will advocate and rally against. We will lobby against, we will rally people against because I think the people of Belize need to understand the magnitude of the disaster offshore drilling can bring to our country. Right now, if you see, if people are keeping track of he news as it unfolds in the United States, you will see that the great USA cannot contain their oil spill. BP, a big multibillion dollar corporation doesn't have the resources to contain that disaster. Not even the US government, with six thousand members of the Coastguard that they've sent out to try and alleviate the situation can even remedy it. Superimpose that on Belize, physically, geographically, we would be wiped out. Now superimpose their capabilities, their money, their wealth, their technology with us and let us be honest with ourselves, we don't even have what it takes to try and control such a disaster so it's an emphatic no to offshore drilling. This map is very revealing and I'm glad it came out at a timely time so that we understand what is happening and I'm sure this government is a sensible government. We've always had a Prime Minister who has listened to the outcry of the people and I'm sure we can reach the negotiating table for him to see the reason offshore drilling is a no for Belize."

Jose Sanchez

"The concessions granted are not only for land. It's also in the sea. Is the barrier reef a part of the concession area?"

Amanda Burgos Acosta, Advocacy Manager, Belize Audubon Society

amanda burgos acosta

"From a protected areas manager point of view, from a concerned citizen's point of view, offshore concessions are of huge concern, in particular because there is so much risk associated with our natural resources and the potential damage. We have what is called an emergent reef, that means when you go there and it's low tide you can see the little crests of the reef. It's very shallow water, we have sea grasses, we have mangroves, patch reefs, and so in terms of any incidence or even the way that the exploration process is carried out, there are huge concerns. We have to also consider the conflicts between the fishing industry and the whole oil exploration process. We have to also consider tourism is a visual industry. We're talking about the industry based on aesthetics, right."

Jose Sanchez

"But even the reef itself, it's a barrier. We're below sea level."

Amanda Burgos Acosta

"Yes, so we're talking if there is any incidents we have a huge potential to just lose out in terms of what are our natural resources."

News Five will have more on the offshore drilling situation as it develops over the coming weeks. We will also follow the paper trail of shell companies to find out who are the investors.

Association of Protected Areas says ban offshore oil drilling

There have always been accusations of sweetheart land deals which would result in a chosen few acquiring prime property for rock bottom prices. And in some cases areas in reserves have been sold off. There have also been incursions in wildlife conservation posts, the Barrier Reef, and national parks such as the Chiquibul. But never before has there been a singular case that has caused so much upset that it has been compared to a parent renting out a child for abuse. A map devised by the Geology and Petroleum Department in February, called the Belize Petroleum Contracts Map, has come into the possession of News Five. The color coded map shows that the country, including the sea and reef has been divided up amongst seventeen companies, including a casino, to drill for petroleum. The Association of Protected Areas Management Organization (APAMO), the umbrella organization for NGO's held its annual general meeting today, and its chairman Edilberto Romero, says they are outright against offshore drilling because any oil spill on the seas could result in catastrophic devastation to the country and people.

Edilberto Romero, Chairman of APAMO

"The position of APAMO is to call on the government to put a complete ban on oil exploration on the offshore. The oil exploration activities in the offshore is too risky for our natural resources, too risky for the coral reefs, too risky for the Belize Barrier Reed World Heritage System. APAMO members have agreed to put a resolution to call on the government to put a complete ban on oil exploration on the offshore."

Jose Sanchez

edilberto romero

"What if the government says there is income to be had, there are plans to be put in place for protection in case of a spill? In light of the spill in the U.S. how does APAMO respond?"

Edilberto Romero

"We can look at the revenues generated from oil in the Spanish Lookout area and we can look at the effects that has happened in the sense that even with the best environmental monitoring and mitigation plan, there are still oil spills and it has happened in terrestrial areas in Belize, it has happened in the Gulf of Mexico and it has happened in other parts of the world. Oil exploration here in the offshore of Belize, oil spills can have tremendous damage to the system; to the barrier reef, to the coral reef, to the marine system and the damage and the impact, economically on the different industries of Belize, the tourism industry, fisheries industry could be far more than what we stand to gain in oil exploration. It could mean wiping out the livelihoods of the tourism industry. I think it would be very irresponsible to ignore that and hence APAMO's call to put a ban on oil exploration in the offshore."

Jose Sanchez

"To be the devil's advocate, those in the industry would use that same argument, Reaganomics, the trickledown effect, to say that if you allow us to drill, the masses will benefit from gaining jobs. Respond."

Edilberto Romero

"There’s an economic assessment that was done on the benefits from the marine resources and the barrier reef; the protection from hurricane, serving as a nursery for fisheries, serving as the base for the tourism industry and you're talking half a billion dollars in U.S. currency, the value of those resources in the fisheries and the protection of Belize from hurricanes, floods and things like that. I don't think we should lose that. Whatever could be gained from oil in the offshore is far less than that."

The companies which have been given concessions to look for oil include: Princess Petroleum Limited; BCH International Limited; BelGeo Limited; Blue Creek Exploration Limited; Island Oil Belize Limited; Miles Tropical Energy Limited; OPIC Resource Corporation; Perenco Belize Limited; PetroBelize; Providence Energy Belize Limited; RSM Production Corporation; SOL Oil Belize; Spartan Petroleum Corporation; US Capital Energy Belize Limited; West Bay Belize Limited and ZMT International Incorporated. When looking at the map, only the few white blocks denote areas which are vacant and have not yet been given to oil prospectors.

Oceana and Offshore Oil

Jules Vasquez reporting
"Why is this sudden awakening from the NGO community? All these red lights when this has been extant at least going for three years."

Audrey Matura Shepherd. VP, OCEANA Belize
"I think at least for OCEANA we actually just got access to the information."

Jules Vasquez
"It's something that the conservation community it appears has not been looking at."

Audrey Matura Shepherd
"I don't think we have been looking at it closely simply because we negotiating other issues and we knew eventually we would have to make a decision as to how to deal with this issue. So from OCEANA's perspective, no, it wasn't like one of the top priorities because we had other issues we were dealing with. In general I've been hearing through the other NGO's it was a concern but how much information they have or don't have I am not aware."

Jules Vasquez
"Is the sudden vigilance inspired by the disaster that has unfolded in the Gulf of Mexico?"

Audrey Matura Shepherd
"I think the event in the gulf only heightened the reality of what could happen. The reason we had to make a statement is however is that you cannot keep quiet for too long and you cannot be forever be waiting and waiting for the information. I think the public wanted to know where we stood on that. It was eventual that we had to take a stand in Belize even though we were hoping that things would not have been as bad as we found out that they are. You saw the map, it was totally parceled out, two little white spots you could find, everything else parceled out and I am sure that there are people who are clamoring to get those spots filled in. It is bad in that sense but it is not a foregone matter. It can still be dealt with."

Jules Vasquez
"But how so Audrey, you are both an attorney and a conservationist and you know that agreements have been signed, they are sovereign and enforceable. How can you say we change our mind? Some of them have been signed by this administration."

Audrey Matura Shepherd
"I don't want to comment too much about the legalistic because i would want to the see the nature of the agreements. Yes there are agreements but not all agreements are contracts; all contracts are agreements. We need to see how enforceable and binding they are. We know that in any country policy makers, decision makers can change laws. Yesterday it would have been ok for you to own a BB gun and it's not criminal and they pass a new law and by next week it becomes criminal. So it is not impossible.

"I would really want to see the documents, read them and find the loophole and find out strategically what the government would do. There might be compromises, but one thing we won't compromise is that we will not allow that our natural resources, our marine resources be put in such danger. Where else in the world would you go and find three atolls an entire barrier reef and such a wonderful marine life? Nowhere else in the world, Jules. This is a unique place and we have to preserve it."

The most updated map shows that there are 19 production sharing agreements. The most recent is for BCH international signed on the 25th. March 2010. Six of those are for coastal or offshore sites. The Citizens Organized for Liberation Through Action has written to the prime minister warning him that that, "oil spills have.... destroyed tourism industries and have crushed the livelihood of fishermen....offshore drilling brings up toxic mud, containing poisonous heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead, other poisons such as arsenic and benzene and other radioactive materials." COLA asks the prime minister to ensure that "a study is done to declare certain portions of Belize's land - as off limits for oil exploration because of its sensitive ecosystem."

Channel 7

Oil exploration plan raises concerns

    According to reports Princess received one of 17 concessions from the government of Belize to explore for oil and natural gas. As part of the joint venture, Treaty will have the right to explore for oil and gas on a total of 2,000,000 acres. The concession consists of 1,800,000 acres of off shore exploration, and 200,000 acres of onshore exploration.

    Based on initial findings, Treaty is targeting a 10,000 acre area in the south central part of Belize to place its first well. This site is located off the southern highway which provides quick access to ports in Punta Gorda and Belize City.

    Treaty intends to start drilling its first well no later than July 1, 2010. Other groups are starting to come to Belize to explore the offshore area that Treaty believes will produce huge wells that could produce thousands of barrels per day based on information supplied to Treaty by its satellite surveys. Most of the offshore areas in Treaty's concession are in shallow water and many locations showing hydrocarbon deposits have small land formations, which would make it very economical to drill in terms of offshore drilling costs.

    Treaty is scheduled to begin to analyze the offshore concession towards the end of this year, 2010, using satellite and other methods to help in the selection of optimal locations for well sites.

    A diagram distributed with a press release issued OCEANA on May 11th highlights the concession areas and shows that the offshore plot runs right below Belize's maritime frontier with Mexico, at the Boca Bacalar Chico, running east of Ambergris Caye and San Pedro, and right along the highly prized reef system. The concession area also covers a significant portion of the Turneffe Atoll and the Lighthouse Reef. The plot ends just north-east of Glovers Reef.

    Director of Petroleum, Andre Cho, in an interview on April 7th stated that the decision to make the reef areas off-limit areas would be up to Cabinet or policy makers in Government to reserve certain areas and make them off-limits to petroleum drilling. Every square inch of Belize can be parceled out, said Cho, "...up to your backyard." Cho also noted that any company permitted to explore for petroleum in Belize still has to get the requisite permits from the Forest Department, the Department of the Environment, and other government entities. The parties would have to apply to DOE for permits, which may require the company to conduct an environmental impact assessment.

    Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dean Barrow stated that "the time has come to rethink the granting of petroleum concessions along those environmental lines. The existing concession areas", said Barrow, "were inherited from the former administration. Going forward, said Barrow, government should look at excluding sensitive areas from petroleum concessions."

    According to the press release issued by OCEANA, an organization dedicated to Protecting the World's Oceans, the group stressed strong opposition to any offshore drilling in Belizean territorial waters and explained that all it takes is one spill of the magnitude of the Gulf Oil spill for Belize to lose everything. The organization furthermore expressed grave concern with the concessions already granted in Belize's territorial waters especially seeing that they include declared reserves and national parks. Oceana's VP for Belize, Audrey Matura-Shepherd stated that "while we wish for our country to develop and progress we cannot do so to the detriment of our long-term survival. The recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana has shown us that even a rich and highly advanced country like the great USA is not equipped to handle such disaster, and thus this should teach us to proceed with much caution as one accident ten times less can wipe out our entire coastline and send Belize into an economic depression never seen before."

    Many residents of Ambergris Caye and other concerned organizations are appalled at the decision and are deeply concerned for the potential negative impacts that this decision could have on our tourism industry, the fishing industry, our underwater eco system and on all coastal communities.

San Pedro Sun

COLA writes the Prime Minister and demands no offshore drilling

geovannie brackett

And if there is a time in which the various government departments need to consult, the time is now. According to Andre Cho, the Inspector of Petroleum in the Department of Geology and Petroleum, none of the oil companies are in the drilling stage. On Wednesday Citizens Organized for Liberty Through Action (COLA) joined the chorus against explorations. COLA delivered a letter to the Prime Minister's Office highlighting details of oil spills from as far as Australia and as near as the USA. COLA's Vice President Geovannie Brackett says the message to the P.M. is quite simple, no drilling on the seas.

Geovannie Brackett, VP, COLA

"What is alarming to us and troubling is that the entire country has been sectioned off for exploration blocks for petroleum. That includes all our reefs, all our protected areas; everything. So the letter ended by stating that we are calling for a moratorium against offshore drilling. For us it's simply no drilling in any section of our seas. Secondly-and the reason for that is because oil travels. It's no guarantee that if a spill happens in this part of the sea, it won't reach this other sections and with a hundred and seventy-three miles of spilling that has happened in the Gulf of Mexico, that is close to covering our coastline. The second thing we requested is a complete restructuring of the way concessions are issued for exploration of oil, talking now terrestrially. There are still sensitive eco areas on land that we believe there shouldn't be any exploration of oil. The environmental community should be consulted about these areas and there should be studies done before an area could be deemed explorable. This isn't out of the ordinary; this is consistent with that is practiced in the U.S. The Department of the Interior, the secretary has to do a five year study and a five year plan for an exploration. So this particular area in the US would be declared explorable. That plan has to be balanced with a socio-economic assessment and an environmental study. Reason being is that you want to ask questions, how will this sort of development impact the surrounding community and the lifestyle; the trading, the commercial lifestyle in that area. That is one that we are asking for a total restructuring be done."

Jose Sanchez

"Are any of them actually to say next month or next week, 'here we are, ready to start drilling?"

Andre Cho, Inspector of Petroleum

andre cho

"No, none of the companies that have exploration licenses in the onshore areas are at the stage of drilling. Each contract has a work program that the company has to follow and in those contracts in particular for OPIC and Princess, if I remember correctly they don't have drilling commitments till year five. Princess is in year three, so it's about two more years before they have to drill and OPIC is in year two so they have about four more years before they have to drill. So there is no exploration activity going on onshore. A lot of people think there is but there is no physical exploration going on and there will be no drilling for the next two years or so."

Cola is also requesting that Environmental Impact Assessments be required in the exploratory stage and the environmental laws should address separately the impact of terrestrial and offshore drilling.