Local Content Policy should develop dual purpose workers - Chatham House Associate Fellow

Local Content Policy should develop dual purpose workers – Chatham House Associate Fellow

Mar 02, 2020 News

In developing key policies for the oil and gas industry, Guyana’s authorities must keep in mind that petroleum resources are not infinite, and therefore, care should be taken to prepare workers and businesses to serve other industries.

Chatham House Associate Fellow, Dr. Valerie Marcel

This salient piece of advice was recently offered by Chatham House Associate Fellow, Dr. Valerie Marcel during her first appearance on Kaieteur Radio’s Programme, Guyana’s Oil and You.
During her interview, she was asked to speak on the importance of a Local Content Policy containing provisions which seek to create value beyond the oil industry.
Dr. Marcel said, “…Guyana is in that unusually positive situation of having a discovery that has the barrel per capita at a very high level.
That can make Guyana dream of the kind of local content that Trinidad, Norway or the UK has had but the difference is that Guyana is starting in the midst of an energy transition so there is a new timeline factor that didn’t exist before.”
In this regard, the Chatham House Associate Fellow alluded to the fact that when Trinidad started the development of its resources, no one thought or conceived the end of such an oil industry, where the country’s reserves are not as high as before and where the global economy is moving away from fossil fuel to renewable energy such as solar and hydro power.
Dr. Marcel said, “Guyana has to think well about what kinds of local skills and services and goods it will supply to the oil sector only and where it can leverage that demand from the oil sector to create supply that is useful in other sectors. If you can develop skills in welding and electricity that is useful for oil but also other sectors, that is a much greater long-term skill and wealth for Guyana.”
Dr. Marcel said it would be in Guyana’s best interest to go this route as it serves to limit the country’s dependence on the oil resource, the price of which is constantly fluctuating.
With the aforementioned in mind, Dr. Marcel completely agreed that Guyana should have a Local Content Policy that seeks to bridge gaps and create opportunities for dual use.