$314M invested and 4,500 locals hired in oil sector as of mid-2024 – Local Content Sec.

To significantly boost local participation in the oil and gas industry, the Local Content Secretariat invested approximately $314 million in procurement opportunities, hiring 4,500 locals as of June 2024.

This aims to strengthen the role of Guyanese businesses in the sector, with a marked increase in local employment and opportunities for local suppliers.

“We have all seen the important role of the local content law. The policy that we have introduced, this year alone, mid-January our procurement opportunities spent on local companies was somewhere around $314 million,” said Martin Pertab, Director of the Local Content Secretariat.

“New hires for the year as of June this year is around 424, for 40 major tier 1 companies…Total employment is somewhere around 4,500, but if we consider all the tier 1 and tier 2 companies, it’s closer to 6,500.”

Speaking at a steel strike ceremony for the Jaguar FPSO on Tuesday, Pertab highlighted that these figures represent a “huge” increase compared to the previous year, underscoring the success of the Local Content Bill passed in December 2021.

With a focus on further expanding local business involvement, Pertab emphasized that the government’s efforts this year have been more aggressive, with a series of engagements to address challenges faced by local companies.

“We want to push the boundaries some more on local content. We want to shift the focus from the low-hanging fruits and take it a step further to focus more on some of the suffocated line of services,” he stated.

To ensure that these opportunities are maximized, Pertab stressed the importance of continued dialogue with local companies.

“At the end of the day, we want to strike the right balance where companies here operating in Guyana feel comfortable, knowing there is predictability and confidence in the market. At the same time, local businesses should feel supported by the secretariat and the government’s guidance to help their growth,” he explained.

Pertab also announced plans to launch a local content app before the end of the year, designed to connect local businesses with Tier 1 companies more efficiently. “We want to ensure that it is user-friendly and we can make maximum use of the technology,” he said, signaling a further step toward streamlining opportunities for local players in the thriving oil and gas sector.