Three years later…Govt. undecided about approach to local content framework for oil and gas sector

Sep 09, 2018 News

…searching for $$$ to hire new consultant

Stakeholders will have to wait until next year for Government to deliver on a promised local content policy which is to ensure that the services and supplies of locals are given priority in the oil and gas sector.
A second draft of the policy, which was completed one year ago by Local Content Expert, Trinidadian Anthony Paul, has been with the Ministry of Business, which assumed responsibility for local content in January, last.
In an interview with Kaieteur News, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin said that no decision has been made as to how to approach local content.
“The decision hasn’t been made as yet as to whether it requires specific local content legislation; whether it requires simply the incorporation of stronger local content provisions in the production sharing agreement or whether it can simply be an amendment to the Petroleum Exploration Production Act; or whether it would make more sense to have a collaborative approach with contractors on local content,” Gaskin stated.
The Business Minister noted that Government will lean on the advice from another consultant. But hiring the consultant is proving difficult.
Gaskin said that because the Ministry assumed responsibility for local content in January, they did not budget for a consultant.
“We are looking for funding to fund the consultancy fees to complete the exercise. The Ministry of Finance is assisting us with that, and we are also looking at sourcing funding from another organization,” Gaskin stated.
According to Gaskin, the second draft prepared by Paul was fairly general and nonspecific; hence, the decision was taken to hold further consultations.
“Upon examining the issue, we decided we have a plan of action which involves further consultations and also the services of another consultant to finalise the policy.”
“There is no sense consulting with a number of organisations if you don’t have someone with the necessary expertise to actually pull together the comments and views and incorporate them into the final policy,” Gaskin noted.
Last week the private sector bemoaned the delays in finalising the policy and submitted draft local content legislation to Government.
Gaskin stated that while the Government is yet to put in place the policy, the existing PSAs have provisions for local content.
“We still need to have that policy and it’s pretty urgent, and depending on how it is resolved, we may need legislation or not. The bottom line is that there is something currently in place that we are working with, so it is not as if there is absolutely nothing and there is a big freefall,” Gaskin noted.