The Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI) will soon be receiving information regarding Guyana’s first trades in oil now that the country has commenced production.
The local EITI chapter, headed by Dr Rudy Jadoopat, held a meeting with the Department of Energy on January 28 where the two sides discussed the eventual sharing of necessary information as required by the EITI international body to ensure that there is transparency in the oil and gas sector.
A joint communique released on the discussions said that reporting on the first trades in crude is a crucial aspect of the EITI reporting process.
“As a new oil producing country which also is a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Guyana is required to adhere to the requirement in the EITI 2019 Standard which speaks to First Trades in Oil. ‘First Trade’ speaks of a situation where a state (or a state-owned enterprise) sells from its oil, gas and mining sector, its share of physical resources, usually to commodity trading companies,” the statement said.
It said information required for the completion of the First Trades in Oil Report include: 1. Name of the seller 2. Name of the buyer 3. Oil quality grade 4. Oil quantity 5. Date of sale 6. Revenues received 7. Official selling price 8. Payment date 9. Payment account 10. Type of state-owned oil sold e.g. profit oil 11. Contract number 12. Invoice number 13. Beneficial owners of buyer 14. Load port, terminal and depot among other details.
“The GYEITI will receive data and information on the oil and gas sector, including on Guyana’s first trades in oil from the Department of Energy, the Ministry of Finance, Guyana Geology & Mines Commission, the Petroleum Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Guyana Revenue Authority, National Insurance Scheme, and other government agencies which are recipients of revenues from entities operating in the Oil & Gas sector as per EITI Requirements,” the joint statement said.
At the meeting it was agreed that the two entities will collaborate and share relevant data and information, legally permissible, to support the ongoing effort to increase transparency and accountability in the extractive industries and contribute to improved governance of Guyana’s Oil, Gas, Mineral and other Natural Resources.
Oil production commenced in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana in December 2019, less than five years after the first commercial discovery by ExxonMobil and its co-venture partners HESS and CNOOC. The first one million barrels of crude departed Guyana in late January 2020 and the government will lift its first share of oil by mid-February.
