VP says gov’t has clear regime to support and manage oil and gas industry

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo concluded panel discussions on Wednesday at the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo with him underlining that the government has a clear regime for monitoring and supporting stakeholders participation in the petroleum industry.

In his holistic presentation, Dr Jagdeo said the government takes pride in crafting policies which are predictable, fair and beneficial to the companies. At the same time, the government also ensures the protection of the national interest in the petroleum industry.

The vice president emphasised that the legislation framework has been modernised since 2020. These include the amendment of the Petroleum Activities Act and the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). 

The administration also took steps to enact the Local Content Act in 2021, which has led to the participation of over 6000 Guyanese in the industry.

“All of these things have been done to give us better tools to manage the industry. I think the industry appreciates the predictability and non capricious behaviour … They have a clear direction as to how we operate. I think that’s the best thing a government can do,” the vice president said as he responded to questions by theSenior Vice President for Global Energy and International Affairs, S&P Global Commodity Insights, Carlos Pascual in the discussions.

The vice president made it clear that the government’s stance is that the success of the oil and gas stakeholders would ultimately translate to the country’s economic prosperity.

“In succeeding, there are some imperatives that we’d have to observe , which is that this industry has to deliver in a fair manner … there has to be an investment back in the country and certainly everything has to be sustainable,” he underscored.

Importantly, the administration has made it clear that the development of the industry must be aligned with the country’s commitment to protecting the environment.

The vice president also spoke about the government’s effort to enhance the human resource pool, including the provision of more than 20,000 online scholarships to Guyasnese and the government’s budget allocations in the education sector has increased by 162 per cent in the last four years.

Furthermore, the first phase towards achieving free university has already commenced and a modern world-class Hospitality and Tourism Training Institute (HTTI) is being developed at Port Mourant, Region Six to complement the number of hotels being constructed.

Investments are also being pumped in the healthcare, information and communications technology (ICT) for remote villages as well as in renewable and fossil-related energy – all in an effort to improve the standard of living.

Dr Jagdeo further emphasised that the aim is to achieve economic and environmental resilience through targeted investments.