By Bibi Khatoon
The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) will be working this year to develop a National Petroleum Code which will provide standards to govern the operations and conduct of all stakeholders in the petroleum industry.
According to Executive Director of the GNBS, Candell Bostwick, the agency will soon make a proposal to the Government for funding and will work along with its sister agency in Trinidad and Tobago and other countries which have experience in the Petroleum sector.
At a press conference on Tuesday, January 9, 2018, Bostwick said a consultant will also be hired to complete the document proposal.
“We’re pursuing the avenue of hiring a specialist in that direction during 2018 that we can be so informed of the type of standards needed and how we are going to work with that sector,” the Executive Director said.
Outlining her agency’s achievements for 2017, the Executive Director noted that there has been an increase in businesses in the services sector that has approached the GNBS to be certified. She said this is premised on the need for them to implement standards before applying to be a supplier for the emerging oil and gas industry.
Some of the service providers she referred to include consultancy services and the supplier of food items.
“I believe that this drive is because of the oil and gas sector because one of the things we noted is that when the businesses register, with the portal under the oil and gas sector to be a supplier, one of the first requirements is for them to be certified,” the Executive Director explained.
She alluded to the importance of improving local services as the economy expands.
“With the oil and gas sector, it is very important that we drive home that message to our local businesses. We have to build the local industry to ensure that they can be competitive because we have an open market and competitors will come and if we cannot compete, we will be left behind,” Bostwick said.
On November 30, 2017, Jamaica launched its National Petroleum code to assist in dealing with challenges surrounding matters relating to environmental protection, insurance and quality product assurance and to drive the petroleum sector.
The Jamaican Standard (JS) National Petroleum Code consists of five standards including Product Chain of Custody which details procedures for managing petroleum products to ensure control of product quality from point of production to final point of sale.
