Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat says foreign and private investment remains essential to Guyana’s oil and gas development, noting that the Local Content Act was never intended to exclude international investors from participating in the sector.
Speaking at the Local Content Summit 2026 on June 2, Bharrat said the Guyana government has always viewed local content and foreign investment as complementary.
“There were many who said that we would lock out foreign investment in Guyana…We knew that this Local Content legislation was in no way designed to lock out foreign investment. As we need foreign investment to truly develop the oil and gas sector, we saw that over the last five years,” Minister Bharrat said.
The Minister said foreign investment has played a major role in Guyana’s rapid emergence as a leading oil producer since the first oil in December 2019, pointing to the country’s production growth from less than 100,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2020 to more than 900,000 b/d today.
“You know that there is a new Petroleum Activities Act, and you know the amount of investment that came in because of the local content legislation in place. And you know the investment opportunities that exist in the air because of the local content legislation, and that is only because you have a government in place that is very transparent and is very accountable,” he added.
He credited the Local Content Act with helping to create investment opportunities for Guyanese businesses while maintaining an attractive environment for international companies.
