Min Bharrat to represent Guyana, LAC region, on int’l oil, gas transparency body

In a move that signals regional leadership amid the country’s deepening resource governance reforms, Guyana has been selected to sit on the International Board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) for the next three years.
In a statement on Thursday, the Guyanese Government revealed that Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat was officially nominated as a Principal Member of the Implementing Country Constituency on the EITI Board.
In this high-level international capacity, Bharrat will represent the entire Latin American and Caribbean region for the 2026-2029 term.
This appointment, which was announced on Tuesday by the EITI International Secretariat via an official circular, follows a rigorous four-month regional nomination and consensus-building process that ran from February 11 to June 24, 2026.
According to the missive from the Government, as Guyana’s national EITI Champion, Bharrat’s elevation to the international governing body arrives at a definitive moment for the country’s own resource management.
“Guyana is currently undergoing its comprehensive 2026 EITI Validation process, which formally commenced on May 15, 2026. This intensive global evaluation assesses the country’s progress in resource transparency, data disclosure, and tri-sector collaboration among Government, industry, and civil society.”
“By securing a seat on the international board, Guyana positions itself at the forefront of regional transparency policy, even as the Ministry of Natural Resources actively drives domestic structural and legal updates to align with the evolving EITI Standard,” the missive detailed.
Commenting on the appointment, Minister Bharrat emphasised that his role on the international board will not only amplify the voice of Latin America and the Caribbean in global extractive governance but will also reinforce Guyana’s unwavering domestic commitment to open data, beneficial ownership disclosure, and accountable revenue tracking across its rapidly expanding oil, gas, and mining sectors.
EITI is a Norwegian-based organisation that seeks to establish a global standard for the governance of oil, gas, and mineral resources. It aims to address key governance issues in the extractive sectors, promoting an open and accountable management of oil, gas, and mineral resources.
Guyana signed up for the EITI in 2017 at a time when the country was producing mainly gold, bauxite, and diamonds. Two years later, the country started producing oil and gas in December 2019.
Guyana has been using the EITI platform to report on its mining, oil and gas, forestry, and fisheries sectors.
According to the EITI website, the country has published five reports since becoming an EITI implementing country. The Guyana EITI (GYEITI) has been working on the systematic disclosure of extractives data, strengthening the disclosures of extractive contracts and beneficial ownership, and informing policies and debate on the regulatory framework of the oil and gas sector and the management of the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
In April 2022, Guyana’s comprehensive validation against the 2019 standard found that the country had achieved a ‘fairly low’ overall score in implementing the EITI standard.
However, following an extension of the commencement of validation, the EITI Board agreed to proceed with a full comprehensive 2026 EITI validation process that got underway in May and is still ongoing. This evaluation assesses data disclosure, revenue tracking, and stakeholder engagement.