Pres Ali praises dynamism of landmark Local Content Bill

…as SBM Offshore head office opens

President Dr Irfaan Ali has praised the landmark Local Content Bill that would be laid in the National Assembly today, almost two years since oil production started, as a dynamic document that, once passed, would ensure Guyanese get increased opportunities in the oil and gas sector.
The President made these remarks while addressing attendees at SBM Offshore’s opening of its corporate office at Lot 74 Sheriff Street on Wednesday. While the President acknowledged the criticisms that the Local Content Bill has been a long time coming, he noted that it has arrived through a very thorough process.
“There is a process. Like every sector, there is a process to which we arrive at a position of perfection or a position of… great influence. So, the bill basically reflects this reality, ensuring that there is enough scope through a legislative framework that incentivises investment from the local Private Sector. And enable the local Private Sector to be an important party to the development of the sector, but more importantly an important participant and stakeholder in the opportunities in the sector.

“And these opportunities will advance and graduate as we improve and build capacity and develop the skills and have greater investment in the sector. It offers a clear directional pathway that we can do it; that with the right type of integration and business model, eventually, we can have Guyanese companies offering the service capabilities – through graduated investment, through partnership,” he explained.

Conscious of realities
According to the President, this graduated process can be used in having Guyanese who were recruited and trained work on the fabrication of the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels.
“So, as we move to the very important part of the advancement of this sector, I want us to be conscious of the realities, the opportunities and I’m proud of the product that would be the catalytical directional legislative push for the further involvement of Guyanese.”
Also present at the event was Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat. The Minister spoke of the Government’s push when it comes to local content and its efforts to manage the sector notwithstanding the challenges that have come with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The last two years have been two challenging years for us in Guyana, but through the prudent management of President Ali and his team and also the resilience of companies like SBM and our partners Exxon and others, we would have established ourselves as one of the main players in the oil and gas sector in this hemisphere,” he said.
“And tomorrow will be a day that will be recorded in the history of our country. It is the day when we will present to the National Assembly of our country, our local content bill as well as the amendments to our Natural Resource Fund Act.”
According to Minister Bharrat, these two bills speak to the Government’s commitment to not only ensure that Guyanese benefit from the oil and gas sector but that management of the sector is done in an accountable and transparent way.

Commitment
ExxonMobil Country Manager Alastair Routledge also addressed the attendees at the opening, and spoke of SBM’s local content commitment, evidenced by the fact that it set up a local affiliate in Guyana even before Exxon awarded the company the contract to construct the Liza Destiny FPSO – currently producing oil in the Liza field.
“We have to go back and remember that SBM established the local affiliate before ExxonMobil awarded the first contract to them, for the engineering, procurement and construction of the Liza Destiny FPSO. I take that really as a symbol of their commitment to the country and their eagerness to come here, begin recruiting and engage with the workforce,” Routledge said.
SBM Managing Director for Offshore Operations, Oivind Tangen meanwhile spoke of the upcoming projects that ExxonMobil would be implementing and the capacity building SBM would have to do. Additionally, he noted, SBM does not take its responsibility to Guyana lightly.
“We feel it’s an incredible responsibility to be working at the heart of the harvesting of the natural resources of the countries in which we operate. And we do not take this responsibility lightly,” he said. (G3)