NOTICE AT-A-GLANCE

Project ID: P166730

Project Title: Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project

Country: Guyana

Notice No: OP00238529

Notice Type: Request for Expression of Interest

Notice Status: Published

Borrower Bid Reference: GPRGMP/CQS/2023/01

Procurement Method: Consultant Qualification Selection

Language of Notice: English

Submission Deadline Date/Time: Aug 08, 2023 16:00

Published Date: 25-Jul-2023

Description: Hiring of an Independent Administrator to prepare EITI Report (2021)

Details:

MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – FIRMS SELECTION)

GUYANA PETROLEUM RESOURCES GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT PROJECT (GPRGMP)

PROJECT ID NO.:           P166730

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:   CONSULTING SERVICES – INDEPENDENT ADMINISTRATOR SERVICES FOR PREPARATION OF GUYANA’S 5th EITI REPORT

REFERENCE NO.:           GPRGMP/CQS/2023/01

The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana (GCRG) is in receipt of financing in the amount of US$20 Million equivalent from the World Bank (WB) toward the cost of the Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project (GPRGMP) and it intends to apply part of the proceeds to pay for consulting services for Independent Administrator Services for the preparation of Guyana’s 5th  EITI Report for the Fiscal year 2021.

This request for expressions of interest relates specifically to the consultancy for Independent Administrator Services for the preparation of Guyana’s 5th EITI Report for the GUYEITI Sub-Component A-2 of the project. This subcomponent will provide support to deepening the EITI process and coverage in Guyana following its successful candidacy to the EITI in 2017, including support for preparation and dissemination of EITI reports (Beneficiary: Guyana EITI (GYEITI) Secretariat).

The objectives of the assignment are to:

The following objectives for EITI implementation are connected to the EITI principles and reflective of Guyana’s national priorities for the extractive sector: 

1. More systematically recording governance vulnerabilities and suspicious practices, increasing reporting into high-risk areas and revealing the anticorruption practices of reporting agencies.
2. Collaborate with external stakeholders such as journalists, corruption-focused organizations and anticorruption agencies to achieve reliable and valid analyses of the information; and to use this data source to formulate an anti-corruption action plan.
3. Raise the bar on industry transparency and accountability, viz., request commitments for industry to publish their anti-corruption, gender, climate change and energy transition policies, with evidentiary data on their policy implementation; and to ensure that specialists analyze and present environmental/climate and gender data (7.4); release taxes and payments to governments by companies, projects, and revenue streams (4.7); and tap beneficial ownership information and due diligence for extractive companies when deciding on joint venture partners, contractors and suppliers; the bottom line is to achieve beneficial ownership transparency (EITI Requirement 2.5).
4. Outline Guyana’s renewable energy sector as the country transitions to a low carbon economy, reviewing the share of renewable energies in total primary energy consumption, and related laws and policies on climate protection and carbon tax (6.4); and consider whether the carbon trading transactions should be classified as the GoG’s revenue.
5. Deliver a more extensive disclosure of licensing and environmental data. This objective is critical, as increased demands are mounting to amplify the transparency of data about critical and unsustainable mining concepts. This objective commits to disclosure of the whole text of any contract, license, concession, production-sharing agreement or other

agreement granted by, or entered into by, the GoG. Clearly, there is an increasing desire to make certain that raw materials are extracted sustainably and without negative effects, especially where there is a great economic dependence on raw material extraction and export (EITI Requirement 2.4).

1. Include both revenue and expenditure data as encouraged by the EITI 2019 Standard (EITI, 2019: Para 5.3), including revenue management and expenditures linked to the environmental impact of extractive activities.
2. Integrate transparency data on social and environmental impacts induced by the oil and gas explorations, and mining projects (EITI Requirement 6.4).
3. Assemble essential information linked to the management of the extractive sector consistent with the GYEITI’s objectives and work plan, and the EITI’s requirements (EITI Requirements 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6);
4. Offer pathways for consolidating the systematic disclosure of information to warrant accessibility, reliability and complementarity with the Government of Guyana and industry systems (EITI Requirement 7.2.c and the EITI Open data policy).
5. Any EITI Requirements and Deliverables not covered in the 4th GYEITI Report for Fiscal year 2020 or any recommendations concluded in the 4th EITI Report, shall be addressed in the 5th IA GYEITI Report for Fiscal year 2021, and the following provided:
   1. A matrix outlining each deliverable, the corresponding phase or phases, support needed, responsible party, responsible staff, and the respective deadlines should be provided for FY 2021 Report.
   2. A similar matrix should be provided for the previous report and include a status update on whether the Deliverable was provided in part or entirety while outlining reasons for failure.
6. Conduct a comprehensive Gap Analysis and Prepare a Gap Analysis Report for the continued implementation of the EITI in Guyana. It must take into consideration Energy Transition, Gender and Women’s Empowerment, anti-corruption activities, beneficial ownership, the previous scoping studies, most recent and any on-going reforms, existing systems, procedures and practices in data and information collection and processing in all the relevant Government Ministries, agencies and departments, especially those which are recipients of revenues from extractive entities or transfers from other related government agencies. In addition, a synopsis should be done with respect to the Scoping Study done in 2012.
7. Review all legislations pertaining to the extractive sector with a view to identify all gaps between existing and required legislations, necessary to ensure compliance with the EITI Standard and make specific recommendations for closing these gaps.
8. Provide and deliver a detailed PowerPoint Presentation to the GYEITI National Secretariat on the Methodology to be used by the IA for the completion of FY 2021 Report which should include the following:
   1. Outline of all phases involved in completing FY 2021 Report.
   2. A comprehensive checklist for each phase listed in (a) above outlining all necessary activities and the responsible party.
   3. Comprehensive templates where necessary for each checklist item listed in (b) above, for e.g., data collection step should have a template clearly outlining the name of each stakeholder involved, the type of data needed and the respective deadlines for requests and submissions.
   4. A clear Communication Procedure should be outlined and agreed upon for each step of the reporting process.
   5. A well-defined list for each step of the Reporting process should be agreed upon with regards to support the GYEITI NS will provide to the IA.

1. Provide training and guidance to all reporting entities on how to complete the summary data templates, so that accurate data can be submitted and this must include the following:
   1. A mechanism to collect feedback on the Reporting Templates and the Training provided through evaluation forms.
   2. The passing grade for the Reporting Template and the relevant Training shall be 80% based on feedback obtained via the evaluation forms.
   3. A mechanism to incorporate the feedback from the evaluation forms into the next years Reporting template and the corresponding Training.
2. Provide a detailed status update, and identify additional actions required, to implement the recommendations from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd GYEITI IA Reports.
3. Complete the 5th EITI Report for Guyana, encompassing Fiscal Year January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, in compliance with the EITI Standard 2019.
4. Present a summary of the Reconciliation Report consistent with the Standard EITI Summary Report Template.
5. Data-reporting templates should be adjusted to include disaggregated data, third-party payments, direct and indirect employment within the oil and gas sector, and data in the Forestry and Fisheries sectors.
6. Complete in an open format (excel), the EITI summary data templates for submission to the EITI Secretariat.
7. Complete in an open format (excel), the files containing all the tables, charts and data covered in the EITI Report for submission of a copy to the GYEITI Secretariat.
8. Assess whether Guyana’s mining fiscal and legal regime is adequate to manage any potential boom in demand of critical minerals necessary for the growth of the renewable energy industry and within the energy transition process.

Some additional foci on objectives include these, viz.:

• Anti-corruption activities
  • For GYEITI to strengthen its relevance for anticorruption endeavors, it will have to ensure its reporting details corruption-related information to identify corruption gaps and that anticorruption personnel utilize those exposés to progress accountability in the extractive sector.
• Beneficial Ownership
  • Review the status of beneficial ownership implementation in Guyana to detect gaps in the legislative framework. And Guyana should prioritize its activities and resources on instituting a robust regulatory framework to attend to the identified gaps in the legal context.
• Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

EITI Requirement 6.3 (d) - the data reporting template should capture data on employment in the extractive industries in absolute terms and as a percentage of the total employment, as well as utilizing the data-reporting templates to identify pay disparities. The information should be disaggregated by gender and, when available, further disaggregated by company and occupational level.

• Energy Transition – Social and Environmental Expenditures
  • EITI Requirement 6.1 - Social and environmental expenditures by extractive companies. Where material payments by companies to the Government of Guyana (GoG) are related to the environment and mandated by law, regulation or contract governing the extractive investment, such payments must be disclosed.

• Energy Transition – Carbon Credits
  • The IA should capture any payments for environmental service such as the proposed US$750 million from the sale of carbon credits to Hess Corporation. In addition, a synopsis should be done to capture Guyana’s Energy Transition plans and the relationship with the Low Carbon Development Strategy.

The estimated duration for the assignment is for six (6) months, commencing September 2023 during which time the Consultant is expected to be physically present in Guyana.  

The GPRGMP now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the aforementioned services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services, such as, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, and availability of appropriate skills among staff. The consulting firm should meet the following requirements:

An Independent Administrator applying international professional standards (requirement 4.9). It is a requirement that the Independent Administrator is perceived by the MSG to be credible, trustworthy and technically competent. Bidders must follow (and show how they will apply) the appropriate professional standards for the reconciliation / agreed-upon-procedures work in preparing their report.

The Independent Administrator shall demonstrate:

• Expertise and experience in the oil, gas, mining, forestry and fisheries sectors in Guyana.
• Expertise in accounting, auditing and financial analysis.
• A track record in similar work. Previous experience in EITI reporting is not required, but would be advantageous
• Solid familiarity with the Current EITI Standard.
• Must have knowledge in project evaluation, public and private sector audit and

accounting, and knowledge of international accounting standards.

• Availability of staff with appropriate skills to complete the required tasks on schedule.

Consultants may associate to enhance their qualifications. The associations should clearly indicate the form of the association (Joint-venture or sub-consultancy; member in charge; other member/s and or sub-consultants). Joint ventures should submit letters of intent indicating their intent to form a joint venture if awarded the contract and shall provide the above-mentioned information for each member of the joint venture.

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the “Consultant’s Qualifications based Selection (CQS) method set out in the procurement Regulations.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0900hrs to 1600hrs.The Terms of Reference can be viewed on the Ministry of Natural Resources’ website : https://nre.gov.gy/ Expressions of interest must be delivered to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by fax, or by e-mail by Friday August 8, 2023

Ministry of Natural Resources

Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project

Attn: Mr. J. McKenzie, Permanent Secretary

96 Duke Street, Kingston

Georgetown, Guyana 

Tel: (592)-231-2510

E-mail: [email protected]

CONTACT INFORMATION

Organization/Department: Ministry of Natural Resources

Name: Joslyn McKenzie

Address: 96 Duke Street, Kingston

City:

Province/State:

Postal Code:

Country: Guyana

Phone: (592)2312510

Email: [email protected]

Website: