The Ministry of Natural Resources last night announced the release of the draft Petroleum Activities Bill for public consultation.
A statement from the ministry said that the Petroleum Activities Bill replaces the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 1986 and is part of efforts by the government to modernise the legal and regulatory framework related to the petroleum sector.
The Petroleum Activities Bill unveils “significant improvements and safeguards related to safety”, emergency response, cross border unitisation, supervision and monitoring requirements, and authorises the minister to prescribe regulations about key administrative and operational aspects of exploration and production activities, the release said.
It also expands the scope of regulation to include storage and pipeline transportation aspects of the oil and gas sector and empower the government to regulate activities associated with geological storage of carbon dioxide. Exploring opportunities for potential CO2 storage sites will enable the government to develop petroleum resources while seeking to minimise their carbon footprint.
The draft Bill, which would be available for public feedback for a period of two weeks commencing from Tuesday, 20th June to Monday, 3rd July 2023, can be accessed on the following websites: www.nre.gov.gy and www.petroleum.gov.gy. All comments should be sent via email to the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Permanent Secretary at jmckenzie@nre.gov.gy during the feedback period.
