Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat says the tremendous success Guyana has seen with its Local Content legislation has vindicated the government’s push since 2021 to have it as a key aspect of its management framework.
During his presentation at the fifth edition of the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo being held at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, the minister said, “There were many who were saying that this bill was going to push investors out of the country, that it is going to kill the oil and gas industry in Guyana. But we forged ahead.”
Minister Bharrat said the intention of the law was to ensure that Guyanese nationals and local businesses meaningfully benefit from the oil and gas sector, rather than being relegated to the sidelines as mere bystanders.
According to the minister, more than 1,200 local businesses are now participating in the oil and gas sector, including a consortium of over 17 catering companies that supply meals to workers offshore on FPSOs and drillships. He also highlighted that Guyanese nationals own three shore base companies, underscoring their significant role in the sector’s development. Additionally, he noted that nearly 7,000 Guyanese have been trained and are currently employed in the oil and gas industry, another major milestone for the country.
“All of this occurred as a result of that legislation being in place,” the Natural Resources Minister said.
Building on these achievements, Minister Bharrat reminded the audience of the recent opening of the Guyana Technical Training College, which will equip citizens with training and certification in various aspects of deepwater drilling. He emphasised that Guyana is not only committed to establishing world-class institutions at home to develop its human capital but is also determined to master every facet of oil sector management with Guyanese at the helm.
“There are many countries in the world that will tell you they have 50% of their nationals working or 70% nationals working in the oil and gas sector. But when you really get down into the details of the jobs that they hold, they’re just labourers, they’re support staff.
“We want Guyanese to be petroleum engineers, reservoir engineers, to be involved in the technical aspect of managing the sector,” Minister Bharrat said.
He also lauded the Stabroek block co-venturers, ExxonMobil, Hess (recently acquired by Chevron) and CNOOC for being partners in this process.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Local Content Secretariat, Michael Munroe also highlighted Guyana’s success because of the legislation. During his participation in a panel discussion at the conference, Munroe noted that as a result of the law, over US$2 billion was generated in procurement opportunities for Guyanese. He added that this figure is expected to rise with the upcoming amendments to the legislation. Currently, the law guarantees Guyanese participation across 40 sectors, and Munroe indicated that this scope will soon be expanded.
“I can say safely that we have already identified at least 20 areas we can comfortably extend the First Schedule to and of course, we’ve had the good support of the sector, where they too have told us that they believe again the (local companies) have capacity in these areas,” Munroe noted.
He added, “We hope to amend the Local Content Act to make it more impactful and ensure its implementation supports operational efficiencies for companies, allowing their supply chains to thrive.” [DPI]
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