Guyana's Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat says the government will advocate more strongly for local workers to receive equal remuneration as their foreign counterparts, positing that Guyanese have now amassed the requisite skills, qualifications and experience in the oil industry.
Bharrat made the remarks at a ceremony at Duke Lodge in Kingston, where approved Local Content Plans were handed over to industry stakeholders. He emphasised that Guyanese workers with comparable skillsets who have spent years in the sector deserve equal remuneration.
“We believe five years after is the right time to start advocating more strongly for this,” Bharrat told the industry stakeholders attending the event.
Guyana began producing oil in December 2019. Two years later, a Local Content Act was passed to prioritise Guyanese nationals and companies in the procurement of goods and services in the petroleum sector. It was also meant to promote knowledge transfer and capacity development, undertakings which Bharrat credits with shaping the local workforce.
He also pointed to growing access to reputable industry training, and said he expects oil companies and government to address the equal pay issue "collectively."
At the same event, ExxonMobil Guyana Limited President Alistair Routledge noted that Guyanese now make up about 68% of the company's workforce, as of end-2025.
Equal pay is not a new demand. In 2020, then-Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton raised the same concern, calling for equal pay for equal work in the oil and gas sector. But with Guyanese workers now accumulating years of hands-on experience, Bharrat believes the disparity should be addressed.
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