Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall on Wednesday announced the establishment of a legal committee to spearhead legislative changes in the sector.
The AG’s announcement came following a meeting with a visiting Ghanaian technical team on Wednesday.
President Irfaan Ali last week announced the planned visit by the Ghanaian team of experts to review key pieces of legislation for the oil and gas sector,
The team is being led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana National Gas Company Benjamin Asante and includes Director of Local Content, Petroleum Commission, Kwaku Boateng, and Senior Technical Manager at Ghana National Gas Company, Abraham Mensah.
Nandlall’s office, in a statement, explained that he along with lawyers from his chambers met with the team on Wednesday. Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat along with technical personnel from his ministry also attended the meeting.
At the meeting, Guyana’s draft local content bill was evaluated and compared with the Ghanaian legislation, as well as legislation from Nigeria, Norway, and Uganda. The visiting delegation offered the AG’s Chambers practical guidance as well as recommendations in relation to the legislation. Additionally, several components of the bill were discussed and critically examined with segments from the various legislation extracted and made part of the local bill, Nandlall’s office said.
“A local legal committee was established by the Attor-ney General comprising of lawyers and drafters from the Attorney General’s Chambers, persons from the Environmental Protection Agency and officials of the MNRE. This team will spearhead Guyana’s pursuit of legislative changes in the oil and gas sector.
“It was agreed that this team and the visiting delegation will continue to collaborate and work closely in helping to develop a modern and effective Local Content Bill and will continue to collaborate on other matters relating to the legislative infrastructure of the oil and gas industry,” the statement explained.
Nandlall also requested academic writings and court rulings on the Ghanaian legislation in order to guide Guyana’s efforts and the Ghanaians duly committed to making them available.
On Friday last, President Ali had said that the Ghanaian teams will be reviewing the Natural Resources Fund Act along with the local content legislation so that they can be tabled in Parliament before the end of the year.
The First Schedule of the draft local content bill has been seen by the Stabroek News and is heavily centred on the oil and gas sector, with special emphasis on skills training and transfers, among other things.
“Local content must be a means to promote economic development by creating opportunities for the Guyanese labour force and business sector in defined areas of work where the skills are available. Local content is an important strategic issue in the oil and gas industry. The government and other stakeholders are seeking to secure greater local benefits from oil and gas production,” the document states.
After taking office in August of 2020, Ali and his Cabinet scrapped APNU+AFC’s local content document, citing the lack of initiatives for local participation in the sector.
Ali subsequently tasked a new Local Content Panel with “undertaking a review of policy initiatives on local content in the petroleum sector and to provide guidance for the development of Guyana’s Local Content Policy and Legislation.” Chaired by Shyam Nokta, the panel comprised former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge; trade unionist Carvil Duncan; Trinidadian Energy & Strategy Advisor, Anthony Paul; former Trinidadian Minister of Energy, Kevin Ramnarine; chartered accountant Floyd Haynes; and the Ministry’s Legal Officer Sasha Rajkumar-Budhan.
The team completed the report last November.
