Govt to use World Bank loan to build capacity at GGMC

Oct 10, 2022 News

– says agency will play lead role in Petroleum Commission

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Government has sought to use another portion of the World Bank Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project (GPRGMP) US$20M loan, this time to support capacity building within the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC)- the agency expected to play the lead role in the pertinent Petroleum Commission.

A statement by the Natural Resources Ministry (NRM) last week said that Minister Vickram Bharrat met with a team of Petroleum Engineers and Technicians from the GGMC and the NRM, as they participated “…in an intensive training exercise that forms part of the Government’s overall efforts to enhance technical skills and specialisation through capacity building to strengthen competencies in the monitoring and management of Guyana’s growing oil and gas sector.”

The report said that the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Natural Resources with the support of the World Bank’s Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project (GPRGMP) is implementing critical software installation and training for Guyana’s Oil and Gas sector using Halliburton’s Landmark Software for Drilling and Geoscience. The software disciplines, the Ministry continued was “obtained to enhance the Technical Work of the Government in relation to effectively supporting contract management activities and policy decisions. The acquisition of this software includes detailed training and capacity building programme for the technical staffers involved in monitoring using Guyana’s data.” It was noted that the technical staffers were already involved in a month long training that concluded last week with training on the Geoscience Software- Decision Space Geoscience (DSG1).

Some of the regulators who participated in the training session with Minister Bharrat (centre at head table)

The Government’s Department of Information noted also that during last week’s engagement Minister Bharrat highlighted the project’s aim to work along with relevant oil and gas agencies including the NRM, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), GGMC, and Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to enhance capacity. He said that, the activity is being held with the GGMC being primary as, “They’ll be the entity that will essentially transform into the Petroleum Commission…” “What we promised is to ensure that we build out the framework or the architecture to manage the oil and gas sector…” the information department quoted the Minister as saying. It said that he also expressed Government’s appreciation to Halliburton and other companies who they have partnered with in building their capacity.

This is the second announcement by the Government for use of the US$20M loan. Recently it was announced that another portion of the money would be used for consultancy service in the Review and Evaluation of the Field Development Plans (FDP) for the Uaru offshore project. This World Bank loan had been secured by the previous administration since 2019 to immediately boost Guyana’s capacity in managing and advancing the position of its lucrative oil and gas sector. With a new Government and little traction in the use of the money, the World Bank downgraded Guyana’s performance on the loan to “moderately unsatisfactory” which caused much backlash. The administration was accused of procrastinating where protection for the country through institutional upgrade is concerned. The government had responded however that it was “refining” the project’s scope to suit the new administration.

The Petroleum Commission some say is also overdue since this body should have already been up and running given that draft legislation was in place by the time the new Government got in, and funding was already secured. The Petroleum Commission is said to be an important agency as it will house the country’s experts and other oil and gas professionals whose only job is to protect Guyana from the vicious oil and gas industry.

The US$20M project has four components: Component A – Enhancement of Legal Framework and Stakeholder Engagement: (US$3.20 M), Component B – Capacity Building of Key Institutions: (US $10.70 M), Component C – Enhancement of Fiscal Management Systems: (US$3.50 M), and Component – D. Project Management & Project Preparation Facilities: (Cost $2.60 M). It was noted however that the Halliburton’s Landmark Software for Drilling and Geoscience disciplines have been acquired to enhance the technical work of the Government with regards to effectively supporting contract management activities and policies, and will include aspects of capacity building and training using Guyana’s data to support the oil and gas industry.