Director of the Guyana Oil and Gas Association (GOGA), Nigel Hughes, believes that the approach to local content in the South American country must be refocused with emphasis on local industry becoming more competitive and efficient.
He was at the time speaking at the Shipping Association of Guyana’s 8th annual dinner and gala event held at the Parc Rayne Hotel on the East Bank of Demerara on Saturday evening.
Hughes explained that “My personal view is that we have started the discussion on local content from, perhaps, the wrong perspective.”
He said instead of looking at how much local content should be protected and guaranteed for locals, “we should look at getting our possible contributions in the oil and gas industry as efficient and competitive as possible so that we create a world-class industry for the provision of goods and services in the oil and gas industry.”
In ensuring effective local content, Hughes suggested that focus is placed on developing world-class human resource capabilities at all levels. He believes that this is where the tertiary institutions will have a great role to play.
The GOGA Director explained that, “The optimal exploitation of this requirement; not only an assessment of where the current gaps exist but the creation of a long-term development plan which will take us to be the most efficient producer of goods and services in the industry, globally.”
Hughes, who is an Attorney-at-Law by profession, said, “If we work towards becoming the preferred destination for investment with the best rates of return in the industry while creating the best environment and project management force in the world, Guyana will become a first world destination in under twelve years.”
He also shared the view that the magnitude of the recent oil find, which now stands at more than five billion oil-equivalent barrels, has presented an opportunity to not only transform Guyana but to create a model for national development, which is unprecedented in the world.
US oil major ExxonMobil on December 3 announced its 10th oil discovery offshore Guyana at the Pluma-1 well.
