THE Private Sector Commission (PSC) has welcomed recent remarks by Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, on the successes of Guyana’s Local Content Act, while urging continued expansion of opportunities for local businesses in the oil and gas sector.

Minister Bharrat recently highlighted the Act’s transformative impact, citing new data from ExxonMobil Guyana which reported a record G$87 billion spent with 1,800 local vendors in the first half of 2025. Since 2015, ExxonMobil has spent more than G$600 billion with Guyanese companies, reflecting the significant growth of local capacity to meet industry demands.
The PSC also applauded ExxonMobil’s milestone of commencing in-country fabrication services at the Vreed-en-Hoop Shore Base Inc. (VEHSI), calling it a major step in strengthening Guyana’s industrial capabilities.

Workforce development has also seen notable progress, with 70 percent of ExxonMobil Guyana’s staff now comprising Guyanese nationals—over 6,200 in total—including 1,800 offshore workers. One in three of these employees is a woman. To date, Guyanese workers have benefitted from more than 370,000 hours of technical, professional, and safety training.

The PSC reaffirmed its active collaboration with the Local Content Secretariat to expand the first schedule of the legislation by identifying additional services and areas where Guyanese businesses can play a greater role. This, the Commission noted, would further increase opportunities for nationals to benefit directly from the country’s energy wealth.
“While the Act has already delivered remarkable gains, the expanded skills, services, and investments by Guyanese businesses provide a strong basis for updating the first schedule,” the PSC stated, adding that amendments should close loopholes, widen opportunities, and ensure Guyanese continue to capture greater value from the sector.
The Commission pledged to work alongside the Ministry of Natural Resources, ExxonMobil Guyana, and other stakeholders to strengthen the framework for local content, describing it as vital to ensuring all Guyanese citizens benefit from the nation’s resource-driven transformation