Throughout the coming months, senior secondary school students in Guyana would be sensitised on the potential careers which they can pursue in the oil and gas sector, with the broader vision of fostering local content.
This “Fuelling Guyana’s Future” programme has been organised by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company in collaboration with the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC), and is geared at developing local content and inspiring future careers in the oil and gas industry.
This massive training programme will cover a 14-month period throughout Guyana, and will cover over 50 schools and 1,000 students. President of GOGEC, Manniram Prashad, has said while there are talks surrounding the potential of Guyana’s booming oil sector, youths are not aware of the opportunities which exist.
“All we’re talking about is 120,000 barrels per day, environment, 10-billion-barrel reserves. Nobody is explaining to these youthful minds the concept and what really is it for Guyana. That is why I’m happy that GTT is a perfect example of good corporate social responsibility and what they can do,” he asserted.
The President of ExxonMobil, Alistair Routledge, has added that, along with direct benefits, many other indirect sectors and opportunities would stem from the oil industry, and people should be educated on this concept.
“Bringing insight and education to the youth in the country is critical. Demystifying a new industry is a super concept. We need all the help we can to bring a level of insight, to educate people across the country, to show them what opportunities exist, not just directly in the oil and gas industry, but the revenues and investments that are coming are going to spawn all kinds of opportunities. We need to help the youths understand what those look like…The future of sustainable development in Guyana are the people.”
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of GTT, Damien Blackburn, added that these discussions are critical at this juncture of Guyana’s development in the sector.
“It’s not enough to just think it’s going to happen; you have to go out and do something. You have to go out and talk to the fifth form students, university students, about the opportunities that are in their grasp. If we don’t do that, they won’t know,” the CEO opined.
ExxonMobil has 24 oil discoveries offshore Guyana, which will see Guyana’s reserves exceeding ten billion oil-equivalent barrels. Recent discoveries and ongoing projects continue to contribute to the advancement of the Guyanese economy, with more than 2,850 Guyanese now supporting the company’s project activities.
In August, Guyana received payment for its seventh oil lift to the tune of US$79,617,561.87, the largest single oil payment the country has received to date.
The Natural Resources Ministry has stated that the aforementioned payment was for 1,047,820 barrels of oil which were extracted from the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel on July 3, 2021.
