Auditing of cost oil, reviewing of oil and gas legislation, the establishment of the Local Content Secretariat, and preparation for the review of field development plans, are among the projects that have received allocations in the Ministry of Natural Resources’ budget.
Minister Vickram Bharrat during the consideration of estimates on Tuesday told the Committee of Supply that with the sector now coming on stream, provision has been made to cater to these changes to better monitor the activities of the sector.
He provided this explanation in response to question from shadow Minister of Natural Resources, David Patterson. He had questioned the line item of $200 million being allocated under the capital expenditure “institutional support” under petroleum management.
The Minister said that allocations have been made for the review of the fifth field development plan which is expected to be submitted later this year.
A sum of $88 million has been budgeted for a consultancy firm to review the proposed Uaru field in the Stabroek Block.
According to Bharrat, monies from the sum will go towards the auditing of 2018-2020 recovery cost from the Stabroek Block and while $10.7 million is budgeted for that, the Minister disclosed it will be a multi-year programme. However, government is committed to starting the auditing process this year.
“Government is 100% committed that we conduct this audit because it is our responsibility as being a responsible government to ensure that we audit the expenses of oil exploration in the oil sector,” Bharrat added.
On this note, the Minister said that they have been building capacity among local accounting firms to be able to audit oil financials. The House was told that some four leading local accounting firms have formed themselves into a consortium and are preparing to work along with international companies to audit the expenditures. The international companies, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had said, will train locals here to acquire the skills required to conduct audits of this nature.
Additionally, some $20 million has been set aside for the establishment of the Local Content Secretariat.
A sum of $5.3 million has been budgeted for a consultancy for the design of a data repository system. The Minister noted the country must have its own data system as it is currently relying on one in Houston, United States. This is not advantageous for the country, he added, as he noted that establishing such a system here will allow for much more prudent management of oil data.
He added that $23.7 million has also been set aside for the Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) of Oil and Gas Development and tenders are currently being evaluated by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board. A contract is expected to be awarded soon.
It was disclosed that funds have also been allocated to review and craft an advantageous Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) that will see Guyana benefiting from better oil deals.
Also, some $47 million has been allotted for the payment of salaries and benefits for the Petroleum Department, which was formally referred to as the Department of Energy.
