…to be available for public scrutiny later this week
GUYANA’s Local Content Policy has been completed by the Department of Energy (DE) and will be made available for public scrutiny in the coming days.
DE Director, Dr. Mark Bynoe said, on Monday, that the policy, which zeroes in on education, inclusion and the advancement of Guyanese, will first be reviewed by members of the government before publication in the media.
“It now is actually a deliverable and we will be working with the Press and Publicity Office to ensure that each media house gets a copy of this local content policy,” Dr. Bynoe said at the Ministry of the Presidency’s Press Room.
Asked what Guyanese can expect from the policy, he disclosed that operators will be requested to provide an annual procurement plan ahead of schedule so that Guyanese contractors can position themselves, in advance, to benefit. “We have asked and we are working with the operators not to be providing just annualized plans but to be providing a programmatic approach so that one is able to see precisely where, on an annualized basis, we are headed,” he stated.
“Also, within the local content policy, one of the things that we have stressed very strong is for them to provide us — along with the plan — an annual procurement plan so Guyanese suppliers will know precisely what is expected and when it is expected so that they can better position themselves to be able to access these opportunities as they present themselves.”
The policy is meant to outline the guidelines by which local content will be understood, developed, measured, secured and implemented in Guyana. The policy is themed: “Guyana Petroleum Sector: Realising Local Content Benefits and Value Retention from Guyana’s Petroleum Resources’
It takes into consideration the urgent need for the optimisation of the revenues received from oil to benefit the Guyanese economy and citizens present and future. The DE Director also stated that the policy remains “fit-for-purpose” which means that there will be a continuous review to ensure that the Government’s position in all aspects of managing the country’s petroleum resources remain up-to-date. “It offers a balanced alignment between the Government of Guyana’s policy goals whilst maintaining consistency with Guyana’s international and Regional trade and economic corporation obligations,” he explained. “It stimulates efficiency and cost benefits to the oil and gas sector and enhances alignment with good industry standards in the petroleum sector. It also promotes world-class capacity enhancement and high quality governance in key state institutions.”
Dr. Bynoe said that the DE has been working with operators to commence reporting on local content performance in accordance with the policy. Over 1,900 Guyanese are directly employed within the petroleum sector by its operators and contractors with 75 per cent of these persons from the skills and professional categories.
They come mainly from Regions Three, Four and Six, while over 750 Guyanese vendors have been engaged and over $120 million spent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Local content, in the context of Guyana, is the sum of input of local goods and services including employment across the oil and gas value chain. It is intended to ensure the education, inclusion and advancement of as many as possible in the value chain of the oil and gas industry.
