Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat says the government wants to work with oil and gas companies to further reduce payment delays for Guyanese suppliers, rather than immediately using legislation to force shorter timelines.
Bharrat made the statement on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, during the handover ceremony for Letters of Approval for Local Content Plans at Roraima Duke Lodge, Kingston, Georgetown. Payment timelines remain important for local suppliers, particularly small businesses that depend on timely payments to maintain cash flow and reinvest in their operations, Bharrat noted.
The issue had been one of the main challenges faced by Guyanese suppliers during the early years of local content implementation. Companies have since worked with the Local Content Secretariat to reduce payment processing times and improve the invoicing process, he noted.
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“I really want to thank each and every company represented here today starting with Exxon[Mobil],” Bharrat said. “It has really worked well for Guyanese businesses because…one of our main challenges when we started out…was access to capital, raising financing, especially for small Guyanese businesses,” he said.
Some suppliers previously had to wait 90-120 days for payments. Those delays placed pressure on businesses that needed the funds to continue operating and growing, he said, noting “most of them, they depend on those payments to basically go back into their businesses.”
He urged operators and contractors to continue reducing payment periods once local suppliers meet contract specifications and satisfy their obligations.
“If that is the situation in your company where you have local suppliers, you are satisfied, [they] have fulfilled the contractual obligation to you, then please let us work on reducing the payment period,” Bharrat added.
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The Minister stressed that the government does not want to immediately place the issue into the Local Content Act. The preferred approach is cooperation with industry.
“I’m not saying that you should just pay because we’re saying that we will put it into [the] local content legislation, we don’t want to take those steps,” he said. “We want to work together.”
Guyana’s local content framework has helped bring more than 2,000 local suppliers into the oil and gas supply chain since the Local Content Act was passed in December 2021 and the Local Content Secretariat began operating in January 2022.
Faster payments would help those businesses continue building capacity in the sector.
