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Govt. moves to overhaul decades old Petroleum laws
The Department of Energy intends to revise and modernise Guyana’s Petroleum legislation. It announced plans to do so during a press conference at its Brickdam office, last Monday.
[From left] Senior Legal Officer, Joanna Simmons; Energy Director, Dr. Mark Bynoe, Department of Energy; Crude Marketing Specialist, Virginia Markouizos
Dr. Bynoe said that he hopes to send off the firm with a good “Christmas present” in the coming week. The Department is expected to notify the public when the contract is signed.
He noted that the firm will not be working alone.
The Energy Director stated, “The mode taken for this project is largely a joint venture approach with most of the technical expertise coming from the international firm and the non-technical experts coming from right here in Guyana.”
The Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act of 1986 is the main legislation governing the Petroleum sector. It has been said to be extremely outdated, and exclusive of key regulations pertinent for the governance of a modern and ever-changing Petroleum industry.
While the Government may develop proposals for a review of the legislation, it is important to note that Government’s caretaker status prohibits it from passing any new legislation.
President David Granger had committed that as a result of the consequences of the December 21, 2018 No Confidence Motion, he would accept the Government’s “interim” status and hold off on furthering of any legislation in the National Assembly, among other things.
The passing of the legislation will have to wait until the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
It is also important to note that the Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) is insulated from legislative changes because of the strict stabilisation clause that Government allowed to be embedded in the agreement.
It states that any losses incurred by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), and its partners, Hess and CNOOC Nexen, due to changes in the Petroleum legislation, customs or tax code, would have to be reimbursed to them by the Government.
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