– wants sector to start off on the right foot to benefit all Guyanese

LEADING private sector executives here have formed the Guyana Oil and Gas Association (GOGA) to police Guyana’s move into petroleum production in efforts to ensure transparency and benefits for Guyanese. “Starting on the right foot is particularly important,” said Boddy Gossai Jr., the President and Chief Executive of the association.
“The oil and gas industry must make economic contributions that benefit all of Guyana; investments can generate substantial economic needs,” he stated.
The GOGA was introduced to a packed audience at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown,on Tuesday evening. They are advocating for comprehensive science-based policies as well as the effective and transparent market principles to ensure benefits to locals.
Gossai said that Guyana must carefully analyse which sub-sectors of energy are being promoted and how these will enable the development of other areas within the sector.
“…GOGA will undertake a transparent approach by working with all for the greater benefit of all in the value chain,” he stated.

He said that the national oil-and-gas entities have all modified their social corporate responsibilities as the industry develops, while the entities have also ensured compliance with local procedures.
Second Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, told those gathered that the industry is at a point where market prices and commodities are fluctuating erratically.
“That makes it important to diversify the industrial commercial base on which we depend,”he said.
He said that the government does not envisage an inter-dependence on oil-and-gas products, noting that it will take the opportunity to ensure that infrastructure is put in place to facilitate development of services such as marine services among others.
“So it is our intention to make sure that those resources are used in a manner which will enable us to diversify across a significant spectrum of activities,” he said.
He said that it is the defence mechanism against “the so-called resource curse,” noting that the issue of human resource has to be examined to ensure “we do not price ourselves out of the market” as has occurred in other countries.
He said that there are a wide range of opportunities for Guyana and according to him, the government will work to ensure that the nation can pursue same as a sustainable path.
“We will try to ensure that we meet some of the anticipated challenges that the resources bring,” he added.
Gossai Jr told the gathering that establishment of the association is to ensure that the oil-and- gas facets of the economy are developed in a comprehensive manner for the benefit of all stakeholders in the industry and also for the people of Guyana.
He said the objectives of the body allow it to work with the government and all relevant stakeholders.
Speaking on GOGA’s membership, he said that full membership will consist of persons whose business activities are wholly or partially related to the industry. These include strategic alliances and associations among others.
According to GOGA, overtime, as the oil-and-gas industry develops from its initial stages, the nature and extent of local content are likely to vary along reliance on foreign as opposed to local inputs.
“The ability of the local economy to supply these various inputs also depends on its level [of] development and industrialisation,” the body said.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure last month announced that potential sites for the proposed oil-and gas- industry onshore support base have been identified and it will be presenting its report to the Cabinet’s oil-and-gas sub-committee shortly.
In a statement , the ministry said that it has completed a screening evaluation of the sites and that several possible locations were examined along the Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo Rivers, and the top two ranked sites were identified.
The recent world-class offshore oil discovery by ExxonMobil has firmly launched Guyana’s hydrocarbon industry. Guyana’s potential rests on the discovery of the Liza-1 and Liza-2 wells, located approximately 120 miles off our shores in 5,500 feet of water.
First oil is anticipated on or before the year 2020.