…as gov’t moves to set up new department of energy

MINISTER of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, will soon hand over the oil-and-gas sector as Cabinet has approved the establishment of a new department of energy within the Ministry of the Presidency.

Well-placed sources told the Guyana Chronicle that the President is intent on ensuring that the sector is managed by persons with the requisite technical expertise as the country moves into critical phases of oil development. The Guyana Chronicle was told that responsibility for the petroleum sector will likely be transferred to an expert within the energy department.

Meanwhile, in making the announcement, Trotman told the Department of Public Information that he had proposed to His Excellency the President David Granger, “that we begin considering the establishment of a Department of Energy, which department will be the one that is focused only on the development of the petroleum sector and today [Tuesday], we had a very lively discussion on the proposal which I presented and it has been determined and decided that we will have the department of energy established; and this will be coming within the next few months,” Trotman related.

He said the department will be housed at the Ministry of the Presidency (MotP) and that President Granger and cabinet have mandated that he would head the task force which will comprise the quintet of ministers that would be Ministers of Finance, State, Public Infrastructure, Business and Natural Resources. “We will include the other ministers of Public Security, Public Communication, Education and Social Protection.”

According to Trotman, this task force will be meeting and will make a proposal of how the new Department of Energy will be constituted, staffed and what its mandate will be. “Eventually, the expectation is that the Ministry of Natural Resources will hand over the responsibility of the function of petroleum to this department and, we will see a more direct and focused mandate from this Department of Energy, that we will of course as a cabinet be supporting the department. So this is good news, the discovery and the decision by cabinet to have a Department of Energy that only focuses on the development of our petroleum resources.”

At a news conference late January, Trotman was asked whether he feels he has too much on his plate and whether he can give his party the kind of leadership it deserves. He responded in the negative, saying that the President had appointed a quintet as he calls it – five ministers who are now overseeing all matters relating to the oil-and-gas sector.

“I have the title of Natural Resources Minister. Minister of Finance deals with all fiscal and financial matters relating to the development of the oil sector; Minister of Public Infrastructure – infrastructural works, but not only to prepare for oil, but how the money is being spent, Minister of Business, issues of local content and interaction with the Private Sector Commission and others and Minister of State Environmental and other issues.

“The President in his wisdom has seen it fit to ensure there is a quintet to oversee this sector and it does not in any way take away from my abilities to serve as minister or as leader of the AFC,” Trotman said.

Not first time
It is not the first time the President is making adjustments to his Cabinet. Early last year, President Granger had reshuffled his Cabinet, removing Dr George Norton from the critical Public Health Ministry and replacing him with Volda Lawrence, while Amna Ally took over at the Ministry of Social Protection and Norton was sent to the Ministry of Social Cohesion. Then later in the year, Dawn Hastings-Williams was moved from Minister within the Ministry of Communities and shifted to Minister of Public Affairs within the Ministry of the Presidency.

Then in late 2016, Simona Broomes was removed as Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection and shifted to the Ministry of Natural Resources, while Minister Keith Scott who was moved from the Ministry of Communities, Department of Housing, to serve as Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection. Valerie Sharpe-Patterson was appointed Minister within the Ministry of Communities.

Late December, government released the full petroleum agreement with ExxonMobil at a high-level forum held at the Ministry of the Presidency, during which Trotman said this country is seeking a long-term relationship with U.S. oil giant and has been advised not to court other companies to work the Stabroek Block.

“We have received much advice from many sources, some of which we have dispersed and dispensed with, but some of it has been wholesome and one such bit of advice that was given is that “owing to our relative small size as a nation with less than a million people, our relative underdevelopment and our relative inexperience, we should try to stabilise our relationships rather than go out and court 15 and 20 companies to come into our waters and develop the resource, we should try to manage what we had discovered, build better relations with the company that had made the discovery and make that a long-term objective,” Trotman told the forum held at the Ministry of the Presidency.

The forum had sought to allay the fears of some who had questioned the motive of government’s delayed release of the contract signed since 1999 between ExxonMobil and the People’s Progressive Party administration, but slightly adjusted on the APNU+AFC government taking office. During presentations on the contract it was disclosed that Guyana stands to gain some US$7Billion over a 20-year period from the LIZA Phase One well only. Speaking at the forum, Trotman said the release of the document “is indeed quite an outstanding day in the annals of Guyana, that in the history of our country it will be written about for years to come.”