EGCI: Liberia

    The U.S. Department of State led a U.S. interagency technical team to Monrovia on September 13-15, 2010. The purpose of the visit was to conduct a needs assessment for the Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative (EGCI), which is a Department of State-led effort to provide a range of capacity-building technical support to the governments and institutions of selected countries that are expected to become oil and gas producers and exporters during the next decade. During its Monrovia visit, the U.S. team met with a range of Government of Liberia (GOL) officials and non-governmental organization representatives. This visit provided valuable insight into both general and specific areas in which the GOL could build institutional capacity that would help to strengthen its oil and gas sector decision making, governance structure and revenue management capability.

    BOEM Partners

    • National Oil Company of Liberia
    • Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs
    • Ministry of Lands, Mines & Energy
    • Environmental Protection Agency
    • Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI)

    Activities to Date/Planned

    • Workshop on the U.S. Experience in Managing the Offshore Oil & Gas Sector (February 2011). This workshop provided a comprehensive overview of the responsibilities and activities of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) in the United States and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. This included a detailed discussion of how issues relevant to Liberia’s offshore oil and gas sector are handled in the United States. Topics would include: geologic and economic modeling; reviewing, authorizing, and inspecting exploration and production infrastructure; pipeline management; and environmental review and compliance. This workshop would lay the foundation for a range of other specialized workshops and possible technical assistance on these and other subjects (e.g., prospect valuation, unitization, offshore safety inspections, oil spill response planning, environmental analysis for the offshore environment, accident investigation, platform decommissioning, etc…), depending on the GOL’s interests, EGCI partner commitments, and program funding availability.

    President Sirleaf met with Envoy Goldwyn at UN General Assembly recently and is “…very committed to EGCI and welcomes the opportunity to work with all USG partners.”

    Countries in the EGCI

    Guyana
    Liberia
    Papua New Guinea
    Seychelles
    Sierra Leone
    Suriname
    Timor Leste (East)
    Uganda