Local content policy to have realistic targets for oil companies

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat MP has said Guyana’s local content policy will set realistic targets for oil companies, based on Government’s assessment of industry’s needs and local capacity to service.

The Minister was speaking at the recent launch of the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber’s training centre.

“We are in the stage of ensuring that we have a comprehensive local content policy with set targets, with timeframes and targets that are realistic because we know that we don’t have certain capacity in Guyana.”

This is in line with statements by Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo MP in April that Government is carving out sectors in the industry for locals. In some cases, the Government will require some services to be exclusively reserved for locals. In others, where local capacity is still being developed, quotas would be set.

Minister Bharrat explained that the policy will be a vast improvement on what was left by the previous administration.

“There was a local content policy that was launched in January 2020 by the APNU+AFC government. However, it, like the PSA [Production Sharing Agreement], if I may say so, it was lopsided again and it wasn’t really a local content policy, it was more of a foreign content policy.”

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, who was also present at the launch of the training centre, urged the private sector to develop independent needs assessments of the industry so that resources could be properly utilised.  

“Apart from Government doing their own needs assessment, private sector needs to do theirs too, because you are the guys that know all the nuts and bolts in the sector. So, once you understand all the nuts and bolts… For example, you’re doing training? What kind of training are you doing? If you do normal sensitisation training, fine. That is just scratching the surface. You need to go further.”

The Government is currently finalising the local content policy. The policy will evolve as the sector advances. The Government is urging the private sector to rapidly develop capacity to service the oil industry, so Government could expand their quotas.

Legislation is also being developed.