Dep’t of Energy commits to providing data on first oil sale

The Department of Energy (DoE) has committed to provide the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI) with information about the sale of the country’s first share of oil done in secrecy last December.

As a new oil producing country, which is also a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), under the EITI 2019 Standard which speaks to First Trades in Oil, Guyana is required to disclose information about the sale of the state’s share of production of oil and gas. This requirement focuses on improving transparency in the sale of the state’s share of production by government and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) referred to as “first trades.” The EITI is a global standard that promotes transparency and accountability in the oil, gas and mining sectors.

Representatives of the DoE and GYEITI, including GYEITI National Coordinator Dr Rudy Jadoopat and DoE Director Dr Mark Bynoe, met on January 28 and in a joint communique issued yesterday, observed that according to the EITI, “First Trade” speaks of a situation where a state or a SOE sells from its oil, gas and mining sector, its share of physical resources, usually to commodity trading companies.