Chairman of Guyana’s Private Sector Commission (PSC), Captain Gerald Gouveia Jr. says local businesses are taking on bigger roles in the oil and gas sector, including offshore vessel operations, catering, aviation services, and oil block operations.
Speaking with OilNOW this week, Gouveia said Guyana’s Local Content Act, introduced to ensure Guyanese businesses benefit directly from the oil and gas sector, continues to create new investment opportunities for local companies.
“There are so many opportunities for the local private sector that companies are now expanding…most of us are actually looking for international help to continue to expand, because we’ve hit our capacity, and that tells me that the profits are real, the reinvestment is real, and the investor climate is as ready as it can ever be,” he said.
According to the Chairman, Guyanese businesses are now operating in both the upstream and downstream segments of the oil and gas industry, showing growth in technical capacity and experience.
“We have Guyanese companies now that are putting together consortiums to do vessel operations offshore, Guyanese consortiums that are doing high-level catering offshore, consortiums that are coming together, they’re actually getting their own oil block to be an operator,” he said.
Gouveia emphasized that oil exploration in Guyana’s Stabroek Block is being used as a catalyst for broader economic growth, rather than as the sole long-term strategy.
He highlighted government and private sector efforts to deliberately diversify into tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, and information, communication and technology, with revenues from hydrocarbons serving as a launchpad for sustainable development.
“We have Guyanese who are outpacing a lot of our neighbors who have been in the oil and gas sector longer than us…and while we’re being very successful in the oil and gas sector, we’re making a very deliberate and successful step to economically diversify those industries,” Gouveia added.
The Chairman also pointed to current challenges in the local content framework, noting that while the law currently identifies 40 sectors for Guyanese participation, consultations have shown that more industries could be added to expand local involvement in the oil and gas sector.
The Local Content Secretariat has submitted proposed amendments to the Act to the Minister of Natural Resources for consideration by Cabinet.
The Private Sector Commission took part in the consultations, which identified additional areas where Guyanese businesses could increase their participation across the oil and gas value chain.
