New Petroleum Commission Bill for National Assembly

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, will shortly table in the National Assembly the Petroleum Commission Bill that would outline the regulations that govern the newly established Petroleum Commission.
On Thursday, he briefed members of the media on the developments in the oil and gas sector as part of a national outreach programme, the Government Information Agency (GINA) has said in a release.
Establishment of a new regulatory agency would relieve the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) of responsibility in this regard. “We need to reorient our minds towards petroleum, which is a completely different form of mining; and so the idea is that we would move in tandem with the rest of the world and have a separate regulatory agency,” Trotman explained.
Trotman said the Bill has already been extensively shared with stakeholders, including the Opposition; and the Ministry of Natural Resources has been “working overtime” to create and upgrade legislation to govern the emerging oil and gas sector.

The Commonwealth Secretariat had, in December, drafted a Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill for the country, and Minister Trotman has said that that Bill is now with the Minister of Finance, since “it is a financial matter”. The Ministry has also drafted a Local Content Policy, GINA added.