THE A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government is not likely to establish the Ministry of Energy before 2020, President David Granger has said.
The President, during his August 31, 2018 press conference noted his administration’s intention to establish a ministry that would be responsible for the oil-and-gas sector but on Wednesday he clarified that the Ministry of Energy would not likely be established before 2020.

It is 2020 when US oil-giant ExxonMobil is expected to start pumping for oil here in the Stabroek Block, and also when Guyanese are expected to head to the polls for the General and Regional Elections.

On the sideline of the swearing-in ceremony of the Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority at State House on Wednesday, President Granger told reporters that the present configuration of Cabinet is determined by the Cummingsburg Accord – the agreement that brought the APNU and AFC together as a coalition to contest the May 2015 Elections.

Based on the present configuration, he said it is not likely that after three years in Government, a new ministry would be created. “I think at this stage after three years we wouldn’t want to add a new ministry, particularly as the Department of Energy is now being established in terms of its organisation, administration, legislation,” the President explained.

Noting that the task ahead of the Department of Energy, headed by Dr Mark Bynoe, is tremendous, President Granger said, “It probably would not be before 2020 that a full blown ministry could be established.”

He added: “Even if we wanted to do it, I think it would be a rush job. It would be hasty to attempt to do it.”

The Department of Energy is currently assembling a team as Guyana prepares for the production of oil and gas in 2020. In a move to strengthen its petroleum management department, Government in August appointed Matthew Wilks – an experienced senior oil and gas business developer and negotiator – as the Oil and Gas Adviser in the Department of Energy.

Wilks, who brings with him 32 years of experience in the global oil and gas industry, will offer critical advice to Dr Bynoe – an Environment and Resource Economist. Dr Bynoe formerly headed the Project Development and Management Unit of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC).

The Department of Energy, which was established on August 1, falls directly under the Ministry of the Presidency and follows a proposal by Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman to have specialised attention placed on the petroleum sector, given the complexity of tasks that exist with the administering of such resources.

Under the current construct, a quintet of ministers is given support to the department. The ministers – Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, the Minister of State Joseph Harmon, the Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, and the Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman have been paying attention to several critical areas that would set a foundation for the effective and efficient management of the industry.

These include the organisational structure of the department; legislation to be introduced for the sector; negotiation with potential investors; exploration and production licences; public communication responsibilities; the engagement of technical experts; the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund; capacity-building measures; the review of fiscal contractual terms; and the transfer of responsibility from the Ministry of Natural Resources to the department.

In August, the Government presented a Green Paper to the National Assembly under the titled ‘Managing Future Petroleum Revenues and Establishment of Fiscal Rule and a Sovereign Wealth Fund’, which is expected to lay the foundation for the Sovereign Wealth Fund legislation, expected to be laid in the National Assembly before the end of 2018.