The Government of Guyana has applied for financing in the amount of US$20 million from the World Bank toward the cost of the Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project (GPRGMP) and it intends to apply part of the proceeds to pay a consulting firm to provide legislative drafting services for the oil and gas sector.
According to documents seen by OilNOW, this request for expressions of interest relates specifically to the consultancy to update the legal and regulatory frameworks for the Oil and Gas Sector under Sub-Component A.1 of the project. This subcomponent will be financed to provide Consulting Services for the Development of Legal and Regulatory Frameworks for the Oil and Gas Sector.
The objective of the assignment is for the Consultant to provide legislative drafting services, inclusive of on-the-job-training, in relation to the development of the legal and regulatory framework for the oil and gas sector to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), and the Petroleum Commission (PC), the sector Regulator, once established.
The consultant will be tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of Guyana’s existing legal and regulatory framework and detailing the legislative and regulatory instruments required to update and establish Guyana’s governance, management and oversight of the upstream, mid and downstream oil and gas sector so as to establish a modern and competitive framework.
The consultant will also be required to draft the necessary legislative and regulatory instruments and support the Attorney General’s Chambers in the review and assessment necessary to ensure that the draft legislative and regulatory instrument are finalized in good order for presentation to the National Assembly, and for passage into law.
The estimated duration for the assignment is for 24 months commencing in July 2021 during which time the consultant is expected to be physically present in Guyana for at least 35% of the contract period.
GPRGMP is supported by the World Bank and aims to enhance the Government’s capacity to achieve its management goals for the petroleum sector through interventions focused on supporting the enhancement of legal and institutional frameworks and the strengthening of the capacity of key institutions to manage the oil and gas sector in Guyana.
Guyana became an oil producing nation just over a year ago and is expected to join the ranks of top Latin America producers by the end of the decade when output is projected to exceed 1 million barrels of oil per day.
So far, U.S. oil major ExxonMobil has found around 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent at the Stabroek Block with significant potential remaining for multi-billion-barrel discoveries off the country’s coast.
