Guyana has joined the International Offshore Petroleum Environment Regulators (IOPER), an international regulators group whose help it will be seeking as it accelerates preparations for crucial oversight of the oil and gas sector as the expected start of production has been moved to next month.
According to Dr. Vincent Adams, executive director of the Environmental Protection Agency, the acceptance of Guyana into the membership of the IOPER should be lauded as “a big deal” since the country is now poised to tap into the resources of a number of countries with experience in oversight of the sector, Stabroek News reported Nov. 3.
“The biggest thing is exchange of information and their shared resources and experiences or lessons learned, in terms of building regulations,” Adams told Sunday Stabroek from Washington, D.C, where the announcement of the country’s acceptance in the IOPER was made.
Adams was at the time attending IOPER’s annual general meeting, which was held Oct. 30-31 in D.C.