Govt to ramp up consultations on local content – Petroleum Coordinator

…countrywide capacity-building by local suppliers targeted

The Government aims to expand its consultations with stakeholders looking to take advantage of local content opportunities from the oil and gas sector, with Senior Petroleum Coordinator Bobby Gossai assuring that they are targeting the second half of this year.
During the recently concluded Ghana-Guyana Local Content & Capacity Building Conference, participants were given an overview of local content in Guyana. Specifically, Gossai informed them that Government will be ramping up consultations on local content.

Gossai noted that even the Local Content Act specifies that consultations must be held on local content within a fiscal year. According to him, the Secretariat will also work along with existing business support agencies.
“What we’re going to be doing as a Secretariat. We didn’t get to do it in the first half of this year. But we plan to start it in the second half of this year. Within this half. Is take that consultative approach and that educational approach of what local content is, understanding it and how you can be part of that value chain, maximising value chain, at a small micro level,” Gossai said.
“It’s a daunting task when you have to bring the benefits of local content for small and medium sized enterprises. Some of them are already part of that, through established partnerships with other agencies. Because they take the opportunities out to the regions. What the Secretariat will be doing is working along with those business support agencies, to show the new areas and also the old areas, of how you can tap into this industry.”
According to Gossai, capacity building of locals has to happen across the country, rather than concentrated in hubs. He also reemphasised the importance of partnerships and consortiums, to maximise value.
Gossai noted that the idea is for companies to grow over a period of a few years, partner and improve their capacity to provide a product or service. He recounted how the Ministry worked along with industry stakeholders to educate them on what is required at the level of the oil and gas sector.
“We engaged with the hospitality industry, caterers. And we came up with a consortium of local businesses, that could find the capital to invest in a company that is already operating. But that investment is not financial investment alone.”
“We don’t want it to be seen as a hub for Georgetown. Or Region Three or Region Six. It has to happen from every part of Guyana. Because there’s skills, there’s expertise, there are products that can be sourced from other places as well, that is within country,” Gossai explained.
So far, there are already thousands of Guyanese taking advantage of local content opportunities. It was revealed that in the first half of 2023, the 40 service areas that were carved out to specifically benefit Guyanese-owned companies generated over US$320 million.
During his feature address, Head of the Local Content Secretariat, Dr Martin Pertab spoke about the Secretariat’s efforts to work with oil and gas contractors and operators to ensure Guyanese are prioritised.
He had highlighted that there has been increasing participation by locals in opportunities that are available in the oil and gas sector. This, he noted, has resulted in more benefits, including earnings for Guyanese.
The US$320 million recorded comes on the heels of some US$700 million in local content value recorded at the end of 2022, and of that amount, US$450 million was from the direct procurement of activities for the sector. In addition, the Secretariat Head further revealed that employment in the oil and gas industry has increased by 6.5 per cent to 3348 since June 2022. (G3)