The rapid expansion of Guyana's offshore oil industry has created billions of dollars in business opportunities for local companies, but price alone does not determine whether a company is capable of working in the sector.
Cost, quality and safety are increasingly being treated as three parts of the same equation.
Guyana's Local Content Act has opened procurement opportunities to domestic businesses across dozens of sectors, while the number of Guyanese companies participating in the industry has grown substantially.
But oilfield operations have technical and safety requirements that go beyond simply being locally owned.
An offshore drilling contractor, equipment supplier, engineering company or inspection service can be dealing with machinery and operations worth millions of dollars.
A failure can result in production losses, equipment damage, injury or environmental consequences.
That makes reliability part of the cost.
ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge has repeatedly pointed to cost, schedule, safety and performance as important elements of the company's rapid offshore development.
A company may offer a lower price, but if it cannot demonstrate the required technical capacity, certification, insurance, safety systems or delivery record, the lower bid does not necessarily represent lower overall cost to the operator.
The same principle applies across the oilfield supply chain.
A company providing lifting equipment, for example, has to meet technical specifications.
A transport company moving specialised equipment has to demonstrate the capacity to handle the load safely.
An engineering company needs appropriately qualified personnel.
An environmental contractor needs the technical systems and regulatory approvals required for its work.
This is one reason local-content development cannot be measured only by the number of Guyanese-owned companies registered to participate in the industry.
The more important measure is how much higher-value work those companies can perform.
Guyana's local-content programme has already expanded beyond traditional support services.
The Local Content Secretariat has identified sectors ranging from engineering, ICT and construction to transportation, warehousing, surveying, fabrication and environmental services.
That gives local companies an opportunity to build technical capacity.
But the next step is more difficult.
Companies need to invest in equipment, trained staff, quality-control systems and internationally recognised certifications.
They also need financial capacity.
An oilfield contract can require a company to spend money months before receiving payment.
That creates a barrier for small businesses even when they have the technical ability to perform the work.
It is one of the reasons financing has become an important part of Guyana's local-content conversation.
A company cannot scale into a major service provider simply because there is a market.
It needs capital to purchase equipment, hire workers, train staff and maintain working capital.
The industry also has to balance local participation with operational risk.
A petroleum operator cannot afford to sacrifice safety or quality because a supplier is locally owned.
That would ultimately hurt the same local-content programme it is intended to support.
The better outcome is for local companies to become competitive enough that they can win work because they meet the technical standard and understand the local operating environment.
That is already happening in some parts of the supply chain.
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