See full statement below from the Ministry of Natural Resources in response to a Jamaican economist who tried to label the country as being a victim of the resource curse.
The Ministry of Natural Resources wishes to dispel statements recently published in the media by University of the West Indies lecturer and Jamaican Economist, Dr Damien King, which attempt to undermine the progress made towards the prudent management of the Guyanese economy and the shared development vision of the Government and its people.
Guyana is labelled by leading market participants as the most successful frontier to early-stage production country in recent Oil and Gas history.
Our nation’s exemplary environmentalcredentials and dynamic policymaking to facilitate expeditious offshore exploration and development activities underscore Guyana’s role-model status for Oil and Gas development strategy in the Energy Transition environment.
The Government of Guyana since taking office in August 2020 has been working to transform the governance framework and management of the petroleum sector by effectively developingand implementing various policies and programmes which allow for adherence to internationalbest practices and principles.
The PPP/C Government of Guyana has crafted a strong global energy reputation from the implementation of its manifesto commitments, including the:
1. Update of the principles and conditions of all new petroleum production licences
2.Enactment of the Local Content Law and establish a Secretariat
3.Revision of the Natural Resource Fund Law to provide greater oversight and managementof revenue
4 Applying new environmental permitting conditions and fees
5.Conducting Cost Recovery Audits
6.Continuous review and modernizing of the legislative framework for the oil and gas-sector
7.Updating of the 1986 Petroleum and Exploration Act
8.Development of Offshore Safety Regulations
9.Development of Hydrocarbon Environmental Management Regulations
10.Inter-agency collaboration to improve monitoring capabilities (MNR, GGMC, GNBS,GRA)
The Government swiftly remedied the deficiencies of the Natural Resource Fund Act 2019 with the Natural Resource Fund Act 2021 — an important step towards safeguarding againstthe resource curse, ensuring fiscal smoothing and advancing the quest of inter generational wealth while utilising petroleum wealth to finance national development priorities.
The PPP/C administration also scaled back the excessive power of the Minister of Finance — removing thepossibility of ministerial direction in determining the ceiling on withdrawals, established a Board of Directors — vesting the Board with powers previously concentrated in the hands ofthe Minister and removed the possibility of any expenditure from the Fund being met without prior parliamentary approval.
To maximise value extraction from Guyana’s petroleum resources and remedy pressing issues,Local Content Legislation was enacted in 2021. Today we see the growth of the Guyanese
economy driven by a vibrant local private sector.
The Model Production Sharing Agreements for both the deepwater and shallow water are being developed with a public review period, andwork has commenced on overhauling the 1986 Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Actand regulations ta modern and effective legal framework.
The Government of Guyana remains committed to its strategic development path reinforced bythe establishment of a pragmatic legal and fiscal Petroleum Management Framework and isconfident that the country’s practical, academic and industrial intelligence will ensure thatpolicies and programmes are implemented to avoid the resource curse syndrome to our multi-sectoral economy.
