Stakeholders participate in oil and gas regulatory workshop

As Guyana continues to prepare for first oil, regulations must be in place to ensure there is smooth functioning of the oil and gas industry. To this end, several key stakeholders are participating in a workshop aimed at providing an overview of the use of standards and recommended practices in the industry.

The two-day workshop commenced on September 12 and saw representatives of from the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), Department of Energy (DE), Civil Defence Commission (CDC), ExxonMobil, Hess Corporation, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and other key agencies being engaged in the interactive session.
Speaking to the Department of Public Information (DPI), International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP), Americas Director, Wafik Beydoun said the organisation of the workshop was as a result of the request from the DE and GNBS.
He explained that IOGP does not develop standards, but rather combines standards from various institutions to establish recommended practices. Beydoun also noted that the company “works with API in trying to make standards more homogenous so that countries like Guyana can benefit”.

The IOGP Director emphasised that with Guyana poised to begin oil production in early 2020, it is important to host workshops of this nature. He noted that they should be held at frequent intervals to help key stakeholders understand the complexity of the regulations. “The landscape of standards and best practices is complicated, and that is what we’re trying to show in this first workshop”.
Over the two days, the participants will be exposed to areas such as metrology standards, use of standards by regulators, standards of adoption among several others.
David Miller, Director of Standards, American Petroleum Institute, told DPI that the participants will be briefed on the standards of the API Committee on petroleum measurements. He explained that API publishes 180 standards in manual petroleum measurement which is used for worldwide custody transfers. “Anytime you move gas from one point to another, you have to measure it and demonstrate what is coming off of the rig going to the ship, what’s going to the ship to the platform etc. So, these standards help the industry do that accurately and safely”.
Miller noted that emphasis will be placed on crude lifting, which is, bringing the oil and gas from the deep-water wells. “We have a series of standards specific to offshore crude lifting that you would account for all those different streams because oftentimes you’ll have different regulatory agreements for how oil is treated and how gas is treated”.
The workshop continues today at the GNBS training room.