Petroleum Commission will be operationalised by year end

− Govt in final stages of laying local content legislation in Parliament

The Petroleum Commission, an important component of managing Guyana’s oil and gas sector, is yet to be operationalised despite oil being discovered since 2015. But the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government is aiming to change this by year end.

This is according to President Dr Irfaan Ali, who noted that the Government would have liked to have been able to operationalise the Commission before Parliament goes into recess.
Parliament usually goes into recess from August 10 for one month during which no sittings are held unless there is a special reason for doing so. However, the President assured that the Petroleum Commission will be established by year end.
“In terms of the Petroleum Commission… I would have liked to complete this task before Parliament went into recess. But as you are aware we are in the final stages of having the local content legislation laid in Parliament. And the Local Content Policy itself, which is important. By the end of this year, our plan is to have the Petroleum Commission established,” he reiterated.
Last month, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat had said that amendments are still being made to the Petroleum Commission Bill, and that the greenlight will soon be given for this document to be re-tabled in the National Assembly.
He had further explained that several faulty sections of the bill are being amended which will also remove the overarching power which the Minister with responsibility for petroleum was given to cause disruption at any time.
“At that time, our objection to the Petroleum Commission Bill was that it gives the Minister with responsibility for petroleum too much power. The Minister could possibly usurp the authority of the Commission at any point in time. That is when we were in Opposition.”
“Now we’re in Government, we don’t want to be hypocritical. Our position remains the same. The Minister with responsibility for petroleum should not have that kind of power…The AG chamber has been working on this to ensure that we have those amendments made and hopefully, we’ll re-table it sometime soon,” he had said.
The Petroleum Commission Bill was initially tabled back in 2017 by then Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman during the 11th Parliament. It was to be taken to a Special Select Committee at a later sitting after its second reading. However, it was yet to be passed when the current Government took office last year.
After taking office in August 2020, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had indicated that several moves were being made immediately to ensure that the oil and gas sector is effectively managed; and this includes putting skilled persons at the helm of the Commission.
When it comes to the Local Content Policy, the Natural Resources Ministry had concluded a series of strategic engagements with various stakeholders on the revised draft Local Content Policy back in April. Much attention has been paid to the Local Content Policy, since this policy initiative would provide for Guyanese to play a greater role in the advancement of the petroleum sector.
The revised policy document seeks to put into context the current and evolving state of Guyana’s oil and gas sector, and to enable an improved level of local business participation therein through addition of value, access to opportunities, and capacity building for Guyanese within the energy sector.