Barbados is expected to open its Offshore Licensing Bid Round on December 1, 2022.

This disclosure came yesterday from Minister of State in Foreign Trade and Business, Sandra Husbands, as she addressed the opening of the three-day Energy Local Content Workshop and Share Fair, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Ms. Husbands told her audience: “Recently, at the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy, which was held…in Houston, Texas, the Ministry of Energy and Business formally announced its plans to launch the Barbados 2022 Offshore Licensing Round on December 1, 2022.

“Interested companies will be invited to nominate acreage from available blocks, for inclusion in the bidding process.  The upcoming licensing round presents an opportunity to explore the island’s untapped deep-water potential under a competitive legal, fiscal and regulatory framework.”

Ms. Husbands underscored the importance of the energy sector, saying it was key to transforming the economy of Barbados.  In expressing the view that energy is critical to national development, she said it creates and facilitates possible investments, innovations, new industries, and jobs.  These, she added, were important to sustain economic growth.

“The new global economy is being driven by renewable energy, energy ownership, and energy investment.  These realities and the need to make local businesses viable to compete on the international market help to inform the mandate of the Barbados Energy Local Content Development Project.

“However, the ultimate goal is to ensure that the country’s transition from fossil fuels to 100 per cent renewable energy sources is realised.  This way, we can ensure that all Barbadians have access to energy that is reasonably priced, reliable, and sustainable,” she explained.

The Minister told the gathering that Government was supportive of efforts to develop the capabilities and competitiveness of Barbadian manufacturers, service providers, suppliers of goods, and individuals, to enable them to participate more effectively in the emerging offshore oil and gas, and renewable energy sectors’ value chain.

However, she noted that several barriers were identified by Government and the Commonwealth Secretariat as limiting the participation of local suppliers in the energy industry value-chain activities in Barbados.  

She stressed that Government, with the assistance of the Commonwealth Secretariat, was seeking to address the challenges by strengthening the policy and regulatory framework for local content development and its oversight capacity.

Ms. Husbands stated: “The Barbados Energy Local Content Project has registered rapid progress since its implementation in April 2022.  Already, we have evidenced the benefits of the project as its implementation progresses in full force. For the first time, energy industry stakeholders in Barbados are actively engaged and coordinated in exploring how to cooperate and collaborate among themselves and with Government to ensure that the emerging energy industry opportunities yield new economic gains and decent incomes for Barbadians….

“Our Local Content can certainly strategically position Barbados to succeed in an internationally competitive environment regarding the supply of goods and services relevant to offshore oil and gas, offshore wind, and other renewable energy installations.” 

The Energy Local Content Share Fair will continue until today Wednesday, September 28, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., daily. Members of the public are encouraged to tour the various booths on display, which are showcasing projects in the oil and gas and renewable energy sectors, and interact with the various stakeholders. (PR/GIS)