TWENTY-FOUR Guyanese operations and maintenance technicians have now joined the ExxonMobil Guyana team, the U.S oil giant said in a release.

It said upon the completion of their training, the technicians will be assigned to the Liza Destiny Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.

It noted that the group of new employees, which includes two females, will receive one week of orientation in Georgetown before departing for 18 months of training at Cape Brenton University, Canada. “A significant portion of that time will be spent on advanced skills training in four areas – operations, electrical, instrumentation and mechanical – as well as specific training for oil and gas production operations,” ExxonMobil explained.

ExxonMobil Guyana’s development model for operations and maintenance employees is designed for trainees to advance from Technician I to III over time, it further explained, noting that the intent is to enhance their capacity to such a level that they are able to replace an experienced international worker.

The technicians join the more than one thousand Guyanese already working on Liza Phase One project activities, ExxonMobil boosted. In early 2020, recruitment of the next set of 50 technicians will commence.

The Liza Destiny is due in Guyana at the end of the third quarter of 2019, ahead of first oil in 2020.

The Stabroek Block comprises 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited operates and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Limited holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 per cent interest. To date, 12 discoveries have been made in the Stabroek Block by ExxonMobil and its partners. The gross recoverable resource now stands at approximately 5.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels.