Following the ExxonMobil oil discovery in the Stabroek Block 120 miles off Guyana’s shore, Minister of Governance and National Patrimony within the Ministry of the Presidency, Raphael Trotman attended the Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative (EGCI) meetings hosted by the United States’ State Department.
These meeting are intended to aid in the development of this country’s capacity to “responsibly” manage its oil and gas resources.
According to a press release from the Ministry, the ECGI is a “US Department of State – led, US interagency effort to provide a wide range of technical and capacity building assistance to the host governments of select countries that are on the verge of becoming the world’s next generation of oil and gas producers.”
The release noted, “the countries receiving EGCI assistance have world class hydrocarbon resource potential and are expected to receive sizable, near term financial windfalls from the development of their oil and gas resources.” And as such, “EGCI’s core objective is to help such countries establish the capacity to manage their oil and gas resources responsibly.”
Specifically, the EGCI which is managed by the Bureau of Energy Resources at the State Department works in four areas of capacity building inclusive of the following:
– Technical understanding of the resource through applying the most appropriate technologies
– Financial issues that establish responsible systems and procedures for managing revenues derived from the sector
Establishing and ensuring that national laws and regulations are consistent with international best practices
Understanding mitigating measures that would protect the environment and people from the impacts of resource exploration.
Generally, the EGCI’s goals are usually “country specific in nature”, the release said, “the program broadly tries to ensure sound and transparent energy sector governance for the benefit of national economic development.”
While on the visit, Trotman, the release said, “was able to have fruitful discussions on issues such as Offshore and Regulatory overview, Lease Sale Planning, Company Bonding and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Analysis and Review of Exploration and Production Plans.
In addition, “the meeting facilitated a networking link that will be pivotal as Guyana advances its activities in the oil and gas sector,” the release said.
