Every Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel that becomes operational offshore Guyana in the Stabroek Block brings with it additional opportunities for the employment and procurement of services from Guyanese.
This was outlined by the newly appointed Director of the Local Content Secretariat, Michael Munroe, during an appearance on the Starting Point Podcast–The Oil and Gas Edition.
Guyana’s Local Content Law, enacted in 2021, stipulates that Guyanese nationals and companies must be given first preference in the country’s oil and gas sector. The secretariat, which Munroe heads, was established to oversee the implementation of the law.
Munroe noted that while the Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) stipulates some degree of local content prioritisation, the Act was crucial in articulating expanded protection for citizens. In providing an example, he noted that the law demands the preparation of a Local Content Master Plan, which is triggered each time a new FPSO comes onstream, bringing additional benefits to Guyana.
“The Stabroek Block co-ventures, every time they sign a production licence, they have to create a master plan for how they foresee the next five years will be in terms of procurement activities, in terms of employment activities, in terms of local content development,” he noted.
Essentially, ExxonMobil and its partners, Chevron and Hess, must outline their procurement and employment needs for every oil ship, and more importantly, state how Guyanese will be included in these processes.
Munroe said it is unfortunate that some persons fall victim to the rhetoric that Guyana gains nothing when ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) brings another FPSO onstream.
Outside of ExxonMobil and its partners, the director noted that oil companies which are in the exploration phase of oil will also have to produce local content plans. With the government poised to sign four new agreements this month, following the nation’s first licensing round in December 2022, Guyanese will have more opportunities coming their way.
“…I think the story ahead of us is very exciting…there will be bountiful opportunities within our local space for local companies to participate,” Munroe concluded.