GCCI President calls for Guyanese to have more space in oil & gas sector

President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Kathy Smith, is advocating for Guyanese companies to be given more safeguards and meaningful opportunities to participate in the country’s burgeoning oil and gas sector. She made these remarks on Thursday during the Chamber’s 2026 Energy Luncheon, held under the theme “Beyond the Barrel: Oil, Gas, Growth, and the Guyanese Contractor.”

According to Smith, over the years, local businesses have made the necessary investments, built capacity and even established partnerships to take part in the oil and gas sector. She says that while local content has facilitated that increased participation, there needs to be more support for Guyanese businesses.
“I have watched [local] contractors transform themselves. I have seen small operators grow into companies with a larger number of employees. It is possible. Not easy, but possible. What is required is clarity about what the market wants, what it will pay, what certification you need, what insurance you must carry, and what financial controls you must demonstrate. Clarity about partnership,” she stated. It is against this backdrop that Smith called for the Government to carve out spaces for local businesses. She pointed out that while the Chamber is not opposed to foreign companies, they must not be more privileged than Guyanese.
“The oil and gas industry in Guyana should look like and resemble Guyana. We want to ensure that whoever is coming, whether regional contractors or international contractors, understands that they are not here to grow their business and their business only; they are here to develop Guyanese businesses and to develop this economy. I really believe that there should be more monitoring and observation from the Government’s standpoint as it relates to oil and gas. Guyanese, in some sense, are still feeling that we need to be privileged to be in the room where oil and gas is being discussed,” Smith posited.
But as the conversation shifts to a new phase of development within the petroleum sector, the GCCI President urged local stakeholders to lend more support in preparing Guyanese to capitalise on those opportunities.
“We cannot continue to say that this is the fastest-growing economy in the world and that Guyanese are still being left out of the oil and gas conversation. The conversation right now is centred around the non-oil sector – the agriculture sector, the construction sector, the mining sector. But for some reason, in the oil and gas sector, we are still not getting the information that we need.” “I’m asking that the conversation is there to prepare Guyanese for gas. We cannot continue to have regional companies and international companies know more about Guyana’s gas and oil than us… I’m asking all the stakeholders, all the supporters, to ensure that Guyanese feel emboldened, that Guyanese feel purposeful, and that we feel a sense of ownership as we discuss oil and gas,” the Chamber President emphasised.
Smith went on to use the opportunity to open up the conversation to expand the 40 areas carved out in the Local Content Act (LCA) for Guyanese to benefit from.
“GCCI believes in Guyanese contractors. It’s the reason why you are here. We believe that your success is Guyana’s success, your growth is the nation’s growth, and that is why we are building the programmes, the partnerships, the visibility, and the advocacy to ensure that when an operator needs goods and services, a Guyanese contractor has a fair shot at that bid,” the GCCI head stated.
Passed in December 2021, the National Assembly approved the LCA, identifying 40 different service areas that oil and gas companies and their subcontractors must procure from Guyanese and Guyanese-owned businesses.
Consultations held recently have identified another 20 additional sectors under goods and services to widen opportunities for locals in the petroleum industry.
But even as efforts are being made to expand local content benefits for Guyanese, some individuals have been taking advantage of loopholes in the legislation to illegally enjoy the benefits set aside for locals. Back in June, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat noted that the Government is clamping down on loopholes in the LCA that have been exploited in the past, while simultaneously widening opportunities for Guyanese within the burgeoning oil and gas industry.