Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat on Tuesday stated that when ExxonMobil Guyana’s fourth Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel – One Guyana – comes on stream later this year, it will create more opportunities for Guyanese in the petroleum sector.
The One Guyana FPSO which is expected to arrive in Guyana waters by June 2025, will support Exxon’s the Yellowtail development, the fourth project in the Stabroek Block. Yellowtail is expected to add 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) to current production which is over 650,000 bpd.
At his press conference, Minister Bharrat outlined the importance of training programmes to equip Guyanese with the skills necessary to excel across the natural resources sector. “Training is essential to ensure that we are productive in the natural resources sector,” he stated.
He also highlighted the success of the Guyana Technical Training College Inc (GTTCI), Port Mourant in Berbice, in preparing Guyanese for the oil sector. President Dr Irfaan Ali recently announced that the first cohort for 2025 of 33 students has commenced training on the FacTor Simulator at the GTTCI. Upon completion of the six-month programme, these individuals will be certified to work on FPSOs offshore.
Minister Bharrat shared that the 24 Guyanese who graduated from the program last year are working on the Unity FPSO offshore Guyana. The FacTor Simulator was commissioned last year and plans are in place to make Guyana Exxon’s global hub for FPSO skills development.
He added that the government is heavily focused on ensuring Guyanese can access technical roles in the oil and gas sector. With the fourth FPSO, “One Guyana,” set to be the largest in the fleet, the minister said it will further enhance employment opportunities for locals.
“So, the training center will continue to provide training for young Guyanese so that they too can access jobs in the oil and gas sector. We’ve been working to improve the standard and certification of our young people, especially because we don’t want to boast of Guyanese being employed in the oil and gas sector when the employment is at the lower end of the scale,” Minister Bharrat noted.
He continued, “We want to be comfortable to say that these Guyanese are working in technical areas as well, and they are not just laborers or cleaners or helpers on FPSO or drill ships, but they are technical officers and engineers on those drill ships and FPSO.”
Additionally, Minister Bharrat reminded that there are more opportunities to come from the addition of Exxon’s fifth and sixth development Uaru and Whiptail.
“So, in another two to three years, we should see, in addition to the one Guyana FPSO, we should see the Errea Wittu and Jaguar FPSOs,” he said.
