'Govt., Opposition must work together to maximize oil gains'

‘Govt., Opposition must work together to maximize oil gains’

Sep 01, 2022 News

– Oil companies love nothing more than to see you fighting each other- Expert urges

By Kiana Wilburg

Kaieteur News – If Guyana is to truly maximise value from the oil and gas sector while ensuring proper oversight, then the government and the political opposition must aspire to put aside their differences and work together as much as possible in the interest of the people, says Trinidadian Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul.

Trinidadian Energy Strategist, Anthony Paul

In a recent appearance on Kaieteur Radio’s show, “Guyana’s Oil and You”, Paul said if the policy leaders on both sides of the divide are busy fighting each other then the real issues as regard getting more value for the country and protecting it from abuses, are left on the back burner. He said companies love nothing more than to see politicians more concerned with fighting amongst themselves as opposed to working as one to defend its people.

Given the magnitude of Guyana’s oil resources, Paul said he would advise Guyana’s young politicians in particular, to make use of parliamentary oversight committees as much as possible to demand more information from ministers about their policies and measures of accountability that would be in place for the spending of the oil revenues.

The Trinidadian expert said, “Guyana has in its Constitution some really useful mechanisms for parliamentary committees to oversee the extractives sector and naturally, the oil and gas sector falls under one or more of those. The Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources was one that was triggered early on under the last (APNU+AFC) government to do certain things.” Paul in this regard was alluding to the fact that the Natural Resources Committee was able to bring the former Head of ExxonMobil Guyana at the time, Rod Henson before the special select committee to answer a number of questions on the company’s local content policy and achievements.

Even former Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman had appeared before the committee where he was grilled on the flawed 2016 Production Sharing Agreement.

“So the parliamentary committees have great power to oversee and ask questions and get evidence to interrogate. Now for that to happen, these parliamentary committees need to have capability, that is to say technical capability. Most places I have worked around the world, their parliamentarians are supported by a robust technical team. In Nigeria for example, they have these technical teams that are armed with economists, lawyers, engineers, etc. they are the people who carry the burden of the investigation and they support the policy leaders so they can have really informed debates,” shared the Energy Strategist.

Overall, Paul said he believes Parliament can be a powerful tool in examining the performance of laws, of the regulators in place, and more importantly, a platform for highlighting how Guyana can protect itself. “It is the perfect place for Guyanese politicians to work together and say ‘yes, I know we will do well with oil, but how can we do better?”

He said in many of the countries, which he has worked in, there are cases where politicians working on either side of the divide were able to join forces and protect the interests of their country and save millions of dollars in the process too.

In the case of Ghana, Paul shared that the country faced steep opposition from companies during talks to craft and subsequently implement a Local Content Legislation. The oil companies he said resisted many of the provisions that sought to put Ghanaians first in several categories of work. They also resisted provisions that called for joint venture partnerships to allow for the transfer of skills and technology. “Despite the resistance, the government and opposition held one head; they put Ghana first. Today, they have a very successful Local Content Framework which all the politicians try to guard and implement as fiercely as possible.”

In another instance, Paul said it was the robust oversight of the government as well as the opposition that prevented the country from being saddled with an overdesigned and inflated field development plan. The cost saving from this level of oversight he said, saved the country almost US$1B in costs.

Taking these lessons into consideration, Paul said his advice therefore to Guyanese politicians would be this: “Yes, you have your party loyalty but there’s one Guyana; think about where you agree and work for that. Don’t always focus on where you disagree. There’s nothing foreign companies love better than to see us fight amongst ourselves…”