Good governance essential for success of oil, gas industry – Former Minister

BY SAMUEL SUKHNANDAN

Ever since the discovery of commercial quantities of oil and gas offshore Guyana, there has been tremendous interest from stakeholders in the industry from across the world.

While this may be seen as a positive sign that this new sector could create

enormous economic activity for the country, a former Minister says good governance is also essential in this process.

Dr Henry Jeffrey told <<<Guyana Times>>> recently that the political process must be stabilised in Guyana and accountability and transparency must be enforced, or the country will incur more losses than gains.

“Hopefully we get good governance. Because if you start with the type of governance we have where people are fighting politically here, there and everywhere, you would find that much of what we get from oil will slip away,” the political analyst opined.

He made reference to places like Nigeria and Venezuela, both major oil-producing countries, where because of political instability; these countries have reaped very little benefit from the industry.

The former Minister said while there is also high interest among the local population, where persons are trying to tap into the industry, he said too much of this, may cause other sectors to be neglected.

Dr Jeffrey said, “One of the most important thing, you don’t want everybody running after oil and leave everything else like agriculture and forestry. We are a small country and a small population, and some people might think that they could

get into some oil related activity but that is not always good.”

Instead of placing too much focus on the new and emerging sector, he is advising Government to place emphasis on bringing the secondary and tertiary products up to scheme, including the furniture sector.

But more importantly, Dr Jeffrey told <<<Guyana Times>>> that Government should not lose focus on achieving the ambitious United Nations (UN) climate change goals that they are signatory to.

“I think we should also place specific attention to what the previous Government called low carbon development, which is now being called green economy. You need to still work on that,” he added.

Speaking with this publication recently, former President Donald Ramotar said he also thinks that too much emphasis is being placed on the emerging oil and gas sector, and suggested that if this continues, Government may likely lose focus on developing the other natural resource sectors.

“I have no confidence in this Government’s ability to manage the country’s economy. So far, everything they have done was not up to standard. The oil industry is quite complex and the finds are huge, so I don’t have any faith in their ability to manage this industry,” he added.

Despite these concerns, Government has assured it’s commitment towards protecting and safeguarding the oil and gas sector, by developing a regulatory framework for its effective management.

However, it was noted that the preparation for the development of a full-fledged oil and gas sector will take many years and requires a strengthening of institutional frameworks, not only within the natural resources sector, but also in other spheres such as education and social protection.

Earlier this month, Government tabled the Petroleum Commission of Guyana Bill 2017, which has since been sent to a Special Select Committee for further scrutiny and refining.Part of the bill speaks of creating a Petroleum Commission that will have the responsibility of monitoring and ensuring compliance with the policies, laws and agreements for petroleum operations. It also contains measures to ensure compliance with health, safety and environmental standards.