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Monitoring Metered Oil … Guyana should require Exxon, others to use independent certifying firms, standards – Int’l Consultant
By Kiana Wilburg
With a plethora of capacity issues facing the country in its bid to prepare for oil, there is still a chance that it can ensure transparency and accountability when it comes to monitoring metered oil. This came to the fore when Kaieteur News conducted an interview with International Oil and Gas Consultant, Anthony Paul.
This publication asked Paul to share how Trinidad and Tobago keeps track of the volume of oil produced, the price at which it was sold, and the costs incurred by oil companies.
With respect to the volume of oil produced, Paul noted that TT’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mines, as it was then called, had established a Petroleum Inspectorate, whose role and function was to measure and certify quantities produced and sold.
The Chatham House Advisor said that TT’s Customs Department also witnesses shipments. Paul said, “There are standard industry methods for measuring and certifying volumes, and the physical and chemical properties of oil and gas, which affect the price. T&T uses these.”
International Oil and Gas Consultant, Anthony Paul
Further to this, Paul noted that in Joint Ventures, non-operating parties require that the operator engage an independent certifying firm to validate the reported volumes and composition being sold and/or exported.
Based on checks with local authorities, Guyana is far from making use of such systems and mechanisms. But all hope is not lost. Guyana still has a chance to protect itself says Paul. He noted that the Government may not need the internal capacity to do this themselves, but rather, require that independent certifying firms, methods and standards be used by the oil majors.
Further to this, the international Oil Consultant said that this is an area into which locals should be promoted very rapidly, as it is an ongoing business for many years and can bring additional value to Guyana, inclusive of the requisite analytical laboratories that must be certified to internationally acceptable standards.
TRAINING FOR GUYANESE
Last April, this newspaper raised the issue of having systems in place to monitor oil offshore with the Guyana Revenue Authority’s Commissioner-General, Godfrey Statia.
Statia had said that special officers would be trained to monitor metered oil production by ExxonMobil. But efforts to follow up with him on this matter recently proved futile.
Be that as it may, the tax chief on several occasions said to Kaieteur News that he is aware of how important meter monitoring is to ensuring accountability and transparency in the oil and gas sector. The Chartered Accountant had said that this type of monitoring is imperative, as there are documented cases where the failure to do so has cost nations billions of dollars in revenue.
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