WITH the government’s local content policy reportedly in the final stages of drafting, it’s important to look now at where Guyanese companies are already participating successfully in Guyana’s new oil and gas industry and examine what has worked both here and abroad in other countries that have had similar oil booms.

Many Guyanese firms, like GCX Energy and GAICO Construction, have entered into joint ventures with international firms that serve the oil and gas industry—something that has been actively encouraged by bodies like the ExxonMobil-funded Center for Local Business Development (CLBD) and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).
These efforts are aimed at seizing opportunities in the economic boom that is

accompanying Guyana’s rapid progress towards first oil production in 2020. And with more than 5 billion barrels discovered on the Stabroek Block so far across a dozen different well sites, development by the ExxonMobil-led consortium of oil producers is likely to provide business opportunities well into the future.

Many of these opportunities will be with what the industry terms “Tier 1” contractors—the largest and most established companies that provide key services like well drilling, underwater seismic and geological surveys, and operation of giant and sophisticated floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels.

Some Guyanese will already be familiar with firms like Saipem, Schlumberger, and TechnipFMC because they have been in-country aggressively hiring personnel and establishing physical presence. These firms aim to support the oil operators who are embarking on a hiring binge of their own.

Many companies are actively pursuing joint ventures with international companies to combine specialized international expertise in the energy industry with local knowledge and manpower. Since much of the work done on drillships, production vessels, and support vessels and facilities are highly technical, the kind of training and experience that more established firms can provide is essential to helping Guyanese firms gain a long-term foothold in the industry.

This sort of capacity-building is widely regarded as a sustainable approach, increasing local content by helping local companies and workers to gain the skills needed to compete for contracts regardless of specific policy or legislation around local content.

Guyanese companies will hope to follow in the footsteps of firms like Norwegian oil and gas service firm, Aibel, and Malaysia’s Wasco Energy. Both were initially formed as small local firms or ordinary industrial companies outside the oil industry, but both saw the opportunity provided by a local oil boom and took advantage of it. They took the expertise they gained at home and exported that, becoming major players in the industry over time.
Wasco, in particular, was a medium-sized industrial company in Malaysia that rose through that nation’s oil boom into an international oilfield service conglomerate. It now operates worldwide and has offices throughout Asia, Europe, and North America and works on high profile pipeline projects like the Gorgon liquified natural gas project in Australia.

Many of Guyana’s most promising new players in the industry have benefitted from training and support from CLBD, which provides guidance and information to companies looking to participate in the industry and gain contracts—something that Guyanese companies will hopefully continue to take full advantage of on the road to first oil.

As our energy industry matures and expands with more production and new discoveries, Guyanese companies will, hopefully, continue to grow with it. By adapting to the needs of a new industry and even forming new companies to meet demands, Guyanese entrepreneurs can continue to gain the experience they need to be significant players in the energy industry, not just here at home, but potentially around the world.