Govt. to strengthen laws to better supervise oil sector

Feb 02, 2024 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton

Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana (GoG) is working on strengthening laws to better supervise the burgeoning oil and gas sector. This was revealed by Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton.

During the recent Committee of Supply session for budget consideration for the Ministry of Labour, Minister Hamilton was questioned by Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Tabitha Sarabo-Halley on the government’s efforts to regulate the oil and gas sector.

Minister Hamilton responded with a comprehensive overview of the strides made and future plans for supervising the vital industry. He contextualized the challenges faced when his ministry started in 2020, highlighting the lack of training and staffing for critical roles related to the oil and gas sector.

The minister revealed that only two individuals were initially trained to inspect the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in the Stabroek Block. “The previous administration never saw it fit to do many of the things we now have to do,” Minister Hamilton said. He outlined the progress made, including increasing the Occupational Safety Health (OSH) staff compliment from nine to 32.

Moreover, Minister Hamilton acknowledged the gap in legislation, stating that existing laws did not cater to adequately address the oil and gas sector. To bridge this, he said his ministry is collaborating with the Attorney General’s Chambers to revise and enhance legislation, not only for OSH but across the spectrum of labour laws. He also disclosed the commitment from the International Labour Organization (ILO) to provide technical support for developing legislation specific to the oil and gas sector.

“So while we have engagement with the oil and gas sector, we have to build capacity to be able to supervise the sector,” he said.

Moreover, he explained that the government also has to amend laws in order to be able to supervise employment agencies in the oil and gas sector. These are agencies that recruit individuals to work for the oil and gas companies. “We now have to have the CRMA (Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency) and refine the laws to allow them to supervise those establishments here in Guyana…That’s a new thing,” Minister Hamilton said.

“So all of these things are work in progress, legislation, amendment and new legislation from the labour side, bringing all of the labour laws together and building capacity of officers and to have them specialise,” he added.

Notably, the minister also disclosed that the ministry had faced some challenges where OSH officers were trained overseas but later left the public sector to work with the oil and gas companies.

MP Sarabo-Halley asked whether or not the government will consider improving the remuneration package to ensure the officers stay in the public sector – to which the minister responded by stating that despite the officers leaving, efforts are underway to address the shortage of trained personnel by continuing recruitment and training programs.

Additionally, Minister Hamilton expressed confidence in significant advancements within a year, envisioning a robust regulatory framework.

It should be noted that while Guyana is now building its capacity, the Government has been encouraging ExxonMobil Guyana and its partners in the Stabroek Block to ramp up production. Presently, Guyana hosts three active projects in the Stabroek Block, operated by ExxonMobil, with Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, and Prosperity Floating Production, Storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, contributing to the nation’s oil production.

While the third vessel came on stream in November 2023 and is almost at its full capacity of 220,000 barrel per day (bpd), Exxon is already started work on the seventh project in the Stabroek Block.

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gas, Joseph Hamilton, Labour, Laws, OSH

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