THE Natural Resources Ministry on Saturday cautioned Guyanese to be mindful of the authenticity of academic institutions when they are signing up to pursue studies in the oil and gas sector.
The ministry in a statement said it “does not endorse any oil and gas learning programmes” and persons are encouraged to do their own due diligence before signing up to pursue studies in these areas.

“The Ministry of Natural Resources is urging the public to be careful when signing up for online courses in oil and gas and to ensure that any programme being embarked upon is accredited,” the statement read.
It was pointed out that there has been a noticeable increase in institutions of learning offering courses in oil and gas education.
And according to the ministry, this is understandable and expected, since the country is preparing itself for the emerging oil and gas industry.

ExxonMobil, the company currently drilling for oil off Guyana’s shores, has made a discovery of oil reservoirs which could contain between 800 million and 1.6 billion barrels of high-quality oil.
Further, the Natural Resources Ministry stated that if the occasion arises, it will indicate publicly, which institution, training programme or course for oil and gas related education it recommends or endorses.
“We strongly urge persons to engage in their own due diligence checks before investing in any oil and gas-related educational pursuit,” the statement said.

Just recently, one institution which bears the name, ‘The Oil and Gas Academy’ surfaced online and prompted concerns about its authenticity.
That academy describes itself as “an e-Learning content developer and professional training broker for the international oil and gas industry.”
However, there is no information on the website (http://www.oilandgas.academy) which points to accreditation of the institution.