Local content in oil and gas industry continues to be a success story

…companies have moved from basic services to more complex ones – Dr Pertab

Local content in Guyana’s oil and gas industry continues to be a success story, with Head of the Local Content Secretariat, Dr Martin Pertab, revealing that local companies have gone from basic services like janitorial and transportation, to more complex services such as working on subsea locations and on pipelines.
Dr Pertab made this revelation during the recently held Local Content Summit 2025 at the Marriott Hotel, where he spoke of how local businesses have grown their capacity to service companies in the oil and gas sector. This includes growing the range of services they can provide.
“There’s been a growth in value added services. We have seen companies that, three years ago were just focusing on janitorial services, transportation. Now we have companies that are providing subsea services,” Pertab said.
“We have companies that are now providing premium threading. We have companies that are now, maybe soon, looking at providing pipe coating services. We have companies looking at the possibility of supplying commodity chemicals. None of those existed before,” he disclosed.
According to Pertab, the growth in Guyana’s local content capacity is due to the Local Content Act (LCA) of 2021, and the 40 different service areas outlined that oil and gas companies and their subcontractors must procure from Guyanese and Guyanese-owned companies.
“And that has to do with our policy direction of ensuring that local content not only focuses on providing basic services, but also eventually taking it one notch up, where we focus on the value-added services. Because in order to fully benefit from local content legislation, its important that we start looking at those value-added services,” Pertab added.
To date, some 1,250 local companies have registered with the Local Content Secretariat, of which 75 are 100 per cent female-owned. The 40 different service areas outlined in the LCA 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 LCA 2021 is currently being reviewed with the aim of tightening up various loopholes, and expanding the services areas through which Guyanese can benefit.
Only recently, it was disclosed that the Government is considering adding a residency requirement for companies claiming to be Guyanese-owned.
Currently, under the Act, a “Guyanese company” is defined as one incorporated under the Companies Act, beneficially owned by Guyanese nationals who hold at least 51 per cent of voting rights, and where Guyanese nationals hold at least 75 per cent of executive and senior management positions, and at least 90 per cent of non-managerial and other positions.
In order to participate in the oil and gas industry, companies must register with the Local Content Secretariat and receive a Local Content Certificate. A criterion for receiving such certificate is for the company to be Guyanese-owned.
However, many have found ways to bypass this requirement through what is known as “rent-a-citizen” schemes.
“Our experience has disclosed that there are companies or persons, who are engaged in the practice of renting or leveraging their Guyanese nationality as a means to allow foreigners who should be the minority shareholders in this arrangement, to more or less beneficially own the company,” Legal Officer at the Local Content Secretariat, Michael Munroe had stated last week.
He had also revealed that this was a loophole which needed addressing during the review of the Act. Munroe had pointed out that the Government wanted to ensure that persons follow the LCA, in both the letter and spirit.