–to bring MPs, ministers up to speed on sector-related matters

GOVERNMENT ministers and Members of Parliament are to be the target audience of a high-level workshop on May 21, 2018 being facilitated by the World Bank.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon told reporters Friday that Guyana had applied to the World Bank for a US$20M loan to aid in capacity building for the country’s budding oil and gas sectors.

As part of that request, two experts from the financial institution will travel to Guyana to conduct the workshop.

The workshop, according to Harmon, will focus on the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), its fiscal arrangements, rules and best practices along with other matters pertinent to the oil-and-gas sector.

Harmon said, too, that Finance Minister Winston Jordan, in his briefing to Cabinet last Tuesday, reported that the World Bank has also offered to provide assistance by way of workshops for the Department of Energy.

It was Minister Jordan who first announced that Guyana will benefit from the US$20M loan from the World Bank. He told reporters at a recent press conference that the money is to be used for oil-and-gas development, and that one aspect is the examination of legislation that would be required to be put in place to improve the country’s architecture for the sector.

The minister reminded that Guyana lacks legislative and other framework for the new sector, and noted that the government is working assiduously to ensure that mechanisms are in place in time for first oil come 2020.

“We have no direct legislation like local content, SWF [Sovereign Wealth Fund], Petroleum Commission Bill, Petroleum Fiscal Regime legislation,” he said, adding:
“And plus, we don’t have people to draft them. So, under this loan, we have to bring people to help us draft these pieces of legislation.”

Guyana’s petroleum regime is governed by the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 1986 (PEPA), and the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Regulations 1986, among other regulations.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) speaking recently on Guyana’s preparedness for the oil-and-gas sector said local petroleum laws came into force at a time when there was little information about the geological prospects here.

As a result, the IMF recommended the reforming and modernising of Guyana’s legal and fiscal framework to cater to the growing industry and new investments. The IMF said Guyana’s legislative framework is highly discretionary, leaving key fiscal terms to be defined in PSAs, and lacks provisions for activities other than exploration and production.