Introduction

At the start of 2019, I had set about the long task of portraying for this series of columns the systematic delineation of a strategic road map for both the “getting and spending” of Guyana’s expected Government Take, arising from its fast-emerging oil and gas sector. The “getting” of its petroleum revenues has centred on six principal guideposts or indicators. These are: the fiscal rules of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA); oil and gas discoveries; existential threats that could strand Guyana’s petroleum assets; the capabilities of the oil blocks’ Contractors; crude oil and gas prices; and the profitability of the enterprises involved in the sector.

By parity of reasoning, the “spending” of Guyana’s oil and gas revenues are revealed in five indicators or guideposts. These are: the overall size of the Government Take ratio or percentage; the Government of Guyana (GoG) declared spending priorities for its oil and gas revenues; the macroeconomic challenges that are likely to accompany Government’s “windfall earnings/ profits”; downstream value-added spending; and two specific proposals of mine. These latter proposals of mine are: 1) sustained strategic investment in Guyana’s renewable energy resources; and 2) cash transfers to Guyanese households — now widely recognised as my Buxton Proposal.