Former Suriname Oil Boss urges Guyana to have to 24hour surveillance offshore

Jan 13, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – When it comes to the regulation of its petroleum industry, Suriname authorities ensured that the requisite monitoring systems as well as the human resources needed are always in place to keep a watchful eye of every move an oil company makes with their resources.

EPA Head, Kemraj Parsram

In this way, Rudolf Elias, former Head of Staatsolie- Suriname’s National Oil Company (NOC) said the authorities of the Dutch speaking nation achieved two objectives. The first he said is that they ensured there is respect for the rules and regulations in place since “what gets regulated gets done.” And secondly, officials are able to learn and grow their knowledge based on various aspects of the sector.
Given the benefits that accrue from the foregoing, Elias said he would encourage Guyana to follow suit as soon as possible. Elias who is also an international consultant with over 30 years’ experience in the industry made the foregoing statements, among others, during an interview on Kaieteur Radio’s Programme: Guyana’s Oil and You.
Elias said, “We are always present for two reasons: one, it’s to see what is happening because you want to know firsthand what is going on with your resource and second is you want to learn…You want to keep an eye out and know where are the layers, know what the oil sands look like. So we always have a driller and a geologist on board 24 hours, seven days a week on every vessel out there.”
He added, “But we are also there of course to learn because the experience for a young geologist when she sees oil for the first time, I mean that’s quite an experience you know. I remember the geologist that saw the first one at the Apache (operated block). He said, ‘Rudolph, there’s oil! It’s discovery!’ And then three or four weeks later, the government announced that there was a discovery.”
In light of the benefits he has been able to have a front row seat to Elias said he would advise Guyana to do the same; to have on every drillship, a Senior geologist and a junior to get the experience of what it takes to find oil and to be in charge of their country’s resources.

Former Staatsolie Boss, Rudolf Elias

For the time being, Guyana does not have the level of monitoring practiced by its Dutch speaking counterpart. But this state of affairs would not be the case for much longer since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for example, led by its head Kemraj Parsram, is pursuing several systems for remote, real time monitoring of activities offshore.
The regulator told the media last year that this will be done through the acquisition of satellite services, and the installation of sensors for air quality index, among other mechanisms.
In the meantime, he said the EPA currently utilises drone technology, has amplified the use of Geographic Information System (GIS), and employs other digital technology for remote monitoring. To complement its technological improvements, the EPA he noted, continues to build the capacity of its staff members.
Along with the strengthening of its in-house capacities, Kaieteur News understands that the EPA said it has improved the requirements for Project Summaries, which must be submitted by the developers applying for environmental authorization. In this regard, project summaries must now include the likely impacts of operations and mitigation measures that would be used by the developer.
The EPA said, too, that it has also strengthened its adherence to the Act by publishing reasons for its decisions and made Project Summaries available for public access and review.

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