Home News 1500 Guyanese hired in oil & gas sector in 2022 – Local...
…850 local businesses registered
Successes continue to be recorded in Guyana’s local content, with 1500 Guyanese being hired in the oil and gas sector last year alone and some 2700 Guyanese in total employed as of 2022 in the various careers the sector has to offer.
This is according to the Local Content Secretariat, while highlighting key achievements in 2022. Additionally, 1800 training programmes were offered. Top technical job opportunities in the oil and gas sector include field and platform operators. Mechanical and subsea technicians, engineers and riggers.
When it comes to skilled workers, the top job opportunities include plant and machine operators, stevedores, cooks, drivers, cargo operators and shop technicians. There is also a demand for doctors, nurses and paramedics under the health category, data scientists and ICT support officers under Information Technology (IT) and commercial analysts and cost controllers under business and finance.
There are, meanwhile, opportunities under administrative career paths, for logistic, facility and administrative officers, clerks, project managers and site operatives, as well as opportunities in customer service. The secretariat estimates that 323 technical, 294 skilled, 69 administrative, 27 health and 16 business/finance staff will be hired for 2023.
Businesses
The Local Content Secretariat also revealed that approximately 850 Guyanese companies and businesses registered in 2022 with the Local Content Secretariat. According to the secretariat, the time it takes companies and operators to pay locals, a thorny issue for businesses, has also been addressed. This time period, according to the secretariat, has been reduced from 45 to 30 days.
There had been numerous complaints of prolonged delays, as much as 90 days, for the payment of goods supplied or services rendered to major players in the oil and gas sector – an issue which had been engaging the Government’s attention.
As a result, the Natural Resources Ministry, through the Local Content Secretariat, had informed companies operating in the petroleum sector that their five-year Local Content Master Plans, which have to be submitted by year-end for approval, must stipulate a max 45-day payment period upon the correct receipt of an invoice to allow Guyanese companies timely and appropriate access to contract and payment terms that facilitate competitive funding and expansion.
To this end, last year the Natural Resources Ministry started approving the Local Content Master Plans of tier-one contractors, including SBM Offshore and Halliburton among others, who were complying with this new condition.
According to the Ministry, this amendment to the five-year Local Content Mater Plan is enforceable by law and will now see contractors and sub-contractors operating in the nation’s oil and gas sector issuing payment to Guyanese suppliers within 30 to 45 days following the receipt of a correct invoice.
After being passed in the National Assembly in December 2021, the Local Content Act was enacted in January 2022. The Act lays out 40 different services that oil and gas companies and their subcontractors must procure from Guyanese companies.
These include 90 per cent of office space rental and accommodation services; 90 per cent of janitorial services, laundry and catering services; 95 per cent pest control services; 100 per cent local insurance services; 75 per cent local supply of food; and 90 per cent local accounting services.
The Local Content Act mandates penalties, such as fines ranging from $5 million to $50 million, for oil and gas companies and their sub-contractors who fail to meet the minimum targets of the legislation, as well as those who are in breach of the Act.
However, the Act is intended to be a living one and both President Dr Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo have noted that the legislation will be continuously reviewed and updated over time in order to close loopholes that are being exploited by operators in the oil and gas sector. (G3)
