Guyana oil revenue
The Natural Resources Fund (NRF) Act, which is among several pieces of oil-related legislation, is in the Attorney General’s Chambers and will be subject to review by an expert currently being sourced by public tender.
When contacted, the Attorney General and Senior Counsel Anil Nandlall confirmed that the NRF Act is pending the acquisition of an oil and gas specialist or consulting firm.
He explained that applications from local and international consultants had already been received and were currently being examined by the National Tender Procurement and Administration Board (NPTAB).
It was previously revealed in February this year that the Guyana Natural Resources Fund currently has over US $ 200 million earned in oil revenue, with the most recent payment being made in January this year.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had made this disclosure during a press conference. It had clarified that there is currently US $ 206.6 million (GY $ 43.1 billion) in the NRF, including the latest royalty payment of US $ 8.3 million, which was received in January.
“To date, US $ 21.2 million in royalty payments has been made into the fund. And there are four payments – US $ 4.9 million, US $ 3.6 million, US $ 4.3 million and US $ 8.3 million in royalty payments, at different times – April 2020, August 2020, October 2020 and January 2021, ”Jagdeo explained.
“And then from profit oil, we have March 11 (2020) – US $ 54.9 million; June (2020) – US $ 35 million, August (2020) – US $ 46 million and January 11 (2021) – US $ 49 million … so we now have US $ 206.6 million in the fund – US $ 185 million up here of profit oil and US $ 21.2 million of royalty. ”
To date, all of Guyana’s oil revenue is held in the NRF, which is banked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. However, this money has remained untouched, as the prolonged political crisis that followed elections has hampered any attempt to establish a system for withdrawing funds.
It is expected that once the Natural Resources Fund Act, which requires the establishment of various committees to provide oversight for the fund, will be brought to the National Assembly by the current Government.
With Guyana emerging as an oil and gas producing nation, this requires human and organizational capacity building; craft and agree to certain critical policies and legal measures; and pursuing strong support and coordination among numerous governmental and non-governmental agencies.
President Dr Irfaan Ali has made it clear that money collected from Guyana’s oil and gas sector will remain untouched in the sovereign wealth fund until a series of reforms are enacted to strengthen the Government’s regulatory infrastructure for the sector.
“My Government is very focused on transparency and accountability. As you know, we have shown this after discussing the license for the Payara. Not only did we make the agreement public, but we also made the environmental permit public, so nothing is done in confidence, ”Ali had said during a speech to the Latin America Outlook and the Caribbean Conference last year.
“I’ve said before, there will be an arm’s length relationship with the politicians. We had international experts leading those discussions … and, of course, the sovereign wealth fund is important, not just for securing and protecting [of] the funds but also establish the conditions and circumstances, through legislation, on which resources will be used, ”he added.
In line with its manifesto commitments, the Government has pledged to implement a number of measures to ensure accountable and transparent management of the country’s natural resources including establishing an arm’s-length sovereign wealth fund insulated from political interference and upholding the Santiago Principles of transparency and accountability, and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
