Decisions in oil sector must lead to capacity building –Report on readiness of assessment of sector handed over

GINA, GUYANA, Monday, December 19, 2016

Developing standardised regulatory framework must go hand in hand with building capacity as Guyana works towards developing the oil and gas sector.

Today, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman received the Rapid Analysis of the State of Readiness of Guyana’s Hydrocarbon Regulatory Framework report which was facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

In a simple handing over ceremony of the report at the Ministry’s boardroom, Brickdam, Anthony Paul, Principal Consultant from the Association of Caribbean Energy Specialist out of Trinidad and Tobago told the Minister that decisions made in the sector today, must be the foundation of what will be needed in the future.

“My recommendation is that when you engage support to make decisions, make sure that support goes towards building capacity at the same time so that those who will run for the next 20 years will have learned from those who have designed what you are putting in place at the outset,” Paul urged.

Paul who spent half the year assessing Guyana’s oil sector readiness explained that the report examined what countries around the world have done, successes, mistakes made and how they can be avoided in deterring Guyana’s readiness.

Paul pointed out that Guyana’s advantage over other oil producing countries is that it does not have “legacy issues” to overcome. This provides Guyana “a long-term outlook on development that very few people have taken time to think through.”

“A whole of government approach” is required for the governing of the sector to where it should go, Paul added. “The approach used can be standardised or can be similar from agency to agency so if you build a common approach and find ways to implement it across the agencies I think that will help in simplifying how we will go forward,” Paul said.

Meanwhile, Minister Trotman in accepting the report said he was impressed with Paul’s knowledge and experience. “I believe that it will hopefully point out the gaps where they exist because we never pretended that we were ready to go and so Mr Paul’s job was to identify the gaps and the areas that needed plugging immediately,” the Minister explained.

The Minister thanked the UNDP Resident Representative Mikiko Tanaka for providing the technical support for the assessment.

“I’m very happy that his modality of technical assistance (Paul’s) was useful for you,” Tanaka told the Minister.

The UNDP Resident Representative expressed the hope that the recommendations would not only strengthen the Ministry, but other sections of government and the private sector.

 

By: Tiffny Rhodius