One of the requirements for securing a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) is to provide the Minister of Natural Resources with a detailed local content plan. That plan, which is supposed to be gazetted, spells out how many Guyanese would be employed as well as how indigenous goods and services would be used for projects.
But since acquiring a PSA for the Stabroek Block, ExxonMobil’s initial plan has not been made public.
Furthermore, the company is supposed to provide annual local content plans to the Energy Department. At previous press conferences, and even his most recent one, Energy Department Head, Dr. Mark Bynoe confirmed that these plans are received noting that the company as well as other operators, at a later time, provide local content reports on how much has been accomplished from the said plans. But, the public is yet to see a single local content plan or report which the Department of Energy received from ExxonMobil.
Guyana is in the final stages of producing a Local Content Policy. Since the release of the draft document for consultation, there have been concerns expressed in several parts of the media about a provision that calls for the reports of these companies to remain confidential with the subject Minister. He or she may share summarized briefs with Parliament about the operator’s accomplishments and areas of improvement.
Dr. Bynoe has not yet said if this provision would be removed before the final document is released. He did note nonetheless that year-end is being targeted for the completion of the policy.
