PARAMARIBO, SURINAME – As Suriname prepares for the GranMorgu oil development, Vandana Gangaram Panday, Director at Staatsolie Hydrocarbon Institute, cautioned against overregulating local content.
Speaking on day four at the Suriname Energy, Oil and Gas Summit, Panday acknowledged the ongoing debate in the country about whether a dedicated local content law is needed. However, she made her stance clear: “There is a natural incentive in the industry to develop local content…we don’t need more legislation. We just need to go and do the work and remove the bottlenecks.”
Suriname’s current petroleum law already includes a clause requiring preference to be given to locally produced goods, services, and a qualified workforce. “To me, that’s a great starting point,” she said.
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Panday emphasized the ongoing collaborative efforts with international oil companies and subcontractors, particularly in supplier and workforce development. “We have been investing millions already in the industry,” she noted, citing programs like the Supplier Development Program.
She also advised against setting unrealistic targets or creating a rigid system. “Maybe two pitfalls to share that we should not fall into are to overregulate and to overquantify targets,” she said. Drawing from international examples, she warned that “overcomplicated local content legislation” can backfire, leading to substandard outcomes and gaming of the system.
Instead, Panday advocated for an organic, collaborative approach: “Let’s go and do the work collaboratively, organically. A few years after first oil, you can evaluate and fine-tune the system.”
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She also stressed the importance of strategic government support in areas like infrastructure and education. “We need structured planning. We need infrastructure…and we need to step up our education and training,” she said.
Referring to her own experiences with everyday workers, Panday said: “These guys are trainable. They want to deliver…we just need to find them and give them the opportunity.”
Suriname has yet to achieve first oil, but Panday made it clear that work must start now, without waiting for the perfect framework. “In the meantime, the industry is working, and we will continue to work with our contractors and subcontractors…to deliver locally produced goods and services.”
