FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 09, 2023
Transforming Guyana Webinar Explores Pathways to a Safe and Sustainable Oil and Gas Industry
The Guyana Business Journal (GBJ) and the Caribbean Policy Consortium recently hosted Season II, Episode VII of their Transforming Guyana webinar series. The episode “Developing and Enforcing a Regulatory Framework for a Safe and Sustainable Guyanese Oil and Gas Industry” featured insightful discussions from industry experts.
The panel of esteemed speakers included:
Thomas B. Singh, Director of the GREEN Institute & Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Guyana.
David Lewis, Vice President, Manchester Trade Ltd. Inc. & Co-Chair, Caribbean Policy Consortium.
Terrence Blackman, Founder, Guyana Business Journal.
The webinar delved into the challenges and opportunities of shaping a robust regulatory framework for Guyana’s burgeoning oil and gas sector. Here are some thought-provoking quotations from the event:
Thomas B. Singh emphasized the importance of aligning institutional outcomes with societal goals, stating, “Instead of asking ourselves what the outcome of our current sets of institutions will be, we should instead say here are the outcomes we’d like to see. What are the institutions that are going to give us those outcomes given certain things that we know, certain parameters that we know about a regulated entity, the oil company.”
He also highlighted the role of social norms in ensuring compliance with regulations, adding, “It is far easier in any society for there to be the observance of rules and the adoption of new rules if there are social norms that support that process.”
David Lewis underscored the importance of drawing from global experiences in regulatory frameworks, stating, “This is not nuclear physics. We have troves of experiences around the world of setting up regulatory frameworks in different industries, including oil and gas that Guyana can benefit from.”
He emphasized the need for investing in human resource development and skills to effectively manage regulatory oversight, saying, “This regulatory overview requires investment in human resource development and skills development. This will not happen by AI. This has to be people who are trained and prepared to be able to manage all of these different interests and information.”
Dr. Lewis also commended the younger generation for embracing economic and political freedom, noting, “Guyana is an emerging market not only in terms of what economics means by an emerging market, but also in the social, political, and cultural understanding of what a free-market economy is.”
Terrence Blackman highlighted the critical challenge of minimizing the environmental impact of oil and gas activities, saying, “This is the central challenge of our time. Ensuring that responsible practices emerge to minimize the environmental impact of exploration and production activities.”
He emphasized the need for collaboration between the state and regulated entities, stating, “There really needs to be a less confrontational stance between the state and the regulated entity. We think that this is in the interest of business.”
The Transforming Guyana webinar series continues to provide valuable insights into the development of Guyana’s oil and gas industry, focusing on safety, sustainability, and responsible practices.
For more information and access to the full webinar episode, please visit:
Program
Quotations:
Thomas B. Singh
- “Instead of asking ourselves what the outcome of our current sets of institutions will be, we should instead say here are the outcomes we’d like to see. What are the institutions that are going to give us those outcomes given certain things that we know, certain parameters that we know about a regulated entity. The oil company.”
- “It is far far easier in any society for there to be the observance of rules and the adoption of new rules if there are social norms that support that process. If on the other hand, our society is at a different place, operating at a different pace, trapped in norms that are relevant for a country and an economy that never had oil, then the order of magnitude, be it in the court room or on the streets. . .of ensuring that laws are followed and that the regulatory framework is the sort of framework that will deliver on our vision, that that becomes incredibly more difficult. . . We need to have supporting norms in society and we don’t necessarily have that.”
David Lewis
- “This is not nuclear physics. We have troves of experiences around the world of setting up regulatory frame works in different industries, including oil and gas, that Guyana can benefit from.”
- “This regulatory overview requires investment in human resource development and skills development. This will not happen by AI. This has to be people who are trained. Prepared to be able to manage all of these different interest and information. . . not only in the oil and gas sector but it has to be managed in banking, in financial services, in construction.”
- “Guyana is an emerging market not only in the terms of what economics means by an emerging market. It is an emerging market in the social, political, and cultural understanding of what a free-market economy is. . . what’s stimulating is, when I see of the young generation, the under forties, how they have embraced this new freedom of economic and political space to do things differently than what their parents, and their grandparents, and what their great grandparents had to do.”
Terrence Blackman
- “This is the central challenge of our time. Ensuring that responsible practices emerge to minimize the environmental impact of the exploration and production activities, mitigating potential oil spills, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. . . I still don’t see the emergence of the regulatory infrastructure that’s necessary to manage these challenges that are on the horizon and will be challenges that we must address at some point in the future.”
- “There really needs to be a less confrontational stance between the state and the regulated entity. We think that this is in the interest of business.”
Contact:
Terrence Blackman, Ph.D., Founder & CEO Guyana Business Journal terrence.blackman@guyanabusinessjournal.com
Dr. David E. Lewis, Fellow, and Co-Chair, Caribbean Policy Consortium DavidLewis@ManchesterTrade.com
Education & Community Engagement in the Age of Oil and Gas