A local oil and gas association that had been founded in a blaze of publicity in October 2016 is no longer functioning.
Following ExxonMobil’s first oil discovery in 2015, a number of organisations trumpeting oversight of the sector were formed but the first of these, the Guyana Oil and Gas Association (GOGA) has quietly become defunct.
With a grand launch at the Marriott Hotel back in 2016, GOGA had promised to be a voice of the citizenry that would not only assist in the creation of employment opportunities but ensure there is transparency and equitable distribution of benefits from the sector.
The organization had stated at the launch that it wanted to assure the nation that it would never be an elite club for only the “wealthy boys and girls” and that the people of Guyana should take it to task if ever they see them slipping.
“Our mandate has to be accountable to membership and to the people of the country and when they find us slipping they should be able to call us to task. Let us know that we are losing focus of what we initially set out to do,” the President and Chief Executive Officer Bobby Gossai had told Stabroek News.
Gossai asserted, “It is within our objective that we want to work with every aspect of the society, every facet of the economy. We want to work with civil society, other private sector organisations, non-governmental organisations, and government …to help bring the knowledge of oil and gas and what oil and gas can do for a country and how effective oil and gas can benefit a country here. We want to be a fora for the discussion of oil and gas and the development of communities. Not just corporations, not just investors and businesses and suppliers because the ownership of the oil resources are the citizens of this country. Hold us to our word hold us to our mandate.”
Gossai had been a Senior Policy Analyst in the Department of Governance, Natural Resource and the Environment under the PPP/C government. This newspaper understands that he is currently an oil and gas consultant with government.
One of GOGA’s directors, attorney Nigel Hughes had said at the launch in 2016 that the multifaceted interests of GOGA would include ensuring “the establishment of robust and respected institutions and a strong regulatory framework for the sector,” as well as “protection and enhancement of the natural environment” and “sustainable investment in social capital.” Beyond those objectives he identified the creation of “competitive and sustainable local energy companies” as being among GOGA’s “primary interests.”
However, after two years, GOGA quietly went off the radar after the cancellation of an oil and gas summit back in 2018.
Stabroek News understands that Gossai secured a scholarship to the United Kingdom and when he left the organization folded.
Stabroek News has tried reaching out to Gossai via his Facebook page but there has been no response.
In 2017, the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC) was formed with former Minister of Trade and Tourism, Manniram Prashad as its President.
GOGEC has continued its operations and issues statements occasionally on oil and related matters. Prashad on Thursday said that the organization “is well up and running and have big things in store”. He said that it would soon be announcing a summit it plans to host.
