(OilNow) The Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC) says it plans to play a major role in the development of the country’s oil and gas sector and will be ramping up activities this year to focus on local content development, capacity building and ensuring a framework exists that would allow all Guyanese to benefit from the multi-billion-barrel oil resources found offshore.

Speaking to OilNOW on Monday, GOGEC President, Manniram Prashad, said the Chamber will be looking to work with operators, regulators, and civil society to help raise awareness among stakeholder groups and the broader population about activities in the sector and opportunities that are emerging.

“We want to make sure everyone, all the people, all the agencies that are coming to assist and work with ExxonMobil and the government; that Guyanese must benefit,” he said. “We believe in a strong local content policy which we have been advocating for and we want to make sure that the end result is that the poor and vulnerable Guyanese benefit from the country’s patrimony.”

Prashad said while the organisation is advocating for strong local content provisions it is also cognizant of the fact that the industry is new to Guyana and that it will take time for Guyanese to build the capacity and skillset that is required.

“So, whilst we advocate for local content, we must understand our limitations and make sure that we utilize whatever is available from outside sources,” he pointed out.

Over the past several months GOGEC has been forging alliances with key regional and international groups which Prashad said will ultimately play a role in helping to further the Chamber’s objectives in Guyana.

“We’ve just been officially designated a partner with CWC Group for its upcoming oil and gas conference and we also recently signed an MoU with the Suriname Chamber of Commerce,” he pointed out. “So, our vision is to help coordinate all these conferences and eventually Guyanese can do them themselves, but we don’t have the know-how and skills and the contacts to do everything right now, so we have to work with international organizations to bring these things together so we can bring the benefits to Guyanese.”

GOGEC held its first official meeting for this year on Monday to formalize and ratify the Executive Board Members and Regional Representatives of the Chamber.

Executive Members

Board Members

Staff