American oil giant ExxonMobil says it has appealed a recent Guyanese court ruling forcing it to set aside hundreds of millions of dollars in the event of a major oil spill off the shore of Guyana. The company said in a statement that the court had failed to consider that Exxon and consortium partners Hess Corporation and China National Overseas Offshore Corporation have the “undoubted ability” to meet their financial obligations in the event of a spill at their operation in Stabroek Block near the south eastern border with Suriname. Rights activists and environmentalists fear that a spill could severely impact the country’s marine resources while devastating the tourism economies of nearby Caribbean nations.
