–through arrangement with Exxon affiliate

STUDENTS and faculty of the University of Guyana (UG) may soon receive training on the basics of the oil-and-gas sector as the Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD) considers collaboration with the institution.

This was learnt on Monday during a seminar hosted by the CLDB, titled ‘Opportunities in the Oil-and-Gas sector…’ at the university’s Turkeyen campus.

The announcement, though tentative, came from CLBD Project Director Patrick Henry, while responding to requests from faculty members to consider making a segment of the oil-and-gas seminar available to interested students and staff.

Said he: “We can organise something…If you want to do them with some of your faculty, we can start there and then try to work out a plan going forward.”
Established here in July 2017, the CLBD serves to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to elevate their standards to that of the oil-and-gas industry, becoming more competitive and contributing to inclusive economic growth.

It operates in collaboration with the Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) Global and Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd (EEPGL), an affiliate of ExxonMobil.

Monday’s seminar is not the first time members of the university have been involved with the CLBD, as it has, since its establishment, partnered with BrainStreet, an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services firm, through which graduates of UG were able to develop a Supplier Registration Portal, now the face of the company’s website.

To date, Henry said, over 550 Guyanese firms have been registered by means of this portal, which allows members to be alerted to upcoming business opportunities with ExxonMobil and its sub-contractors.

EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS
“I think we’ve had really great participation at the centre from Guyanese businesses, and it has exceeded our initial expectations when we first started,” Henry said, adding:
“We hoped after three years to get 500 businesses in the portals, and we have 500 in the first 10 months. So I think it’s a great start, and, hopefully, businesses keep signing up and coming.”

Additionally, as a result of its success, the DAI has taken BrainStreet into its local supply chain, and the small company has since developed a portal for an oil-and-gas client in Asia, and is set to build another for clients here and in Africa.

“The idea is, once you get into the global supply chain as a Guyanese business, you cannot only work for ExxonMobil here in Guyana, but you can work for, globally, the oil-and-gas corporation or other corporations,” Henry said.

Presently, the centre runs three courses, namely: Introduction to the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry; Procurement for Local Suppliers; and Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE).

There, businesses learn and develop an overview of the industry, common terms and jargon, as well as the oil-and-gas tendering process, which differs from what many Guyanese are used to.

“Most of the persons that come to us don’t have any prior knowledge of the oil-and-gas industry,” explained CLBD Senior Business Specialist, Natasha Gaskin-Peters.
“So it has been successful, in the sense that we’ve educated participants with this material, so they are now equipped to talk about terminologies within the oil-and-gas sector.”

LOCAL PARTNERS
Apart from BrainStreet, the centre works along with a group of local partners such as EMPRETEC and the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) to aid with training in third-party-certified courses, which meet international standards.

Through IPED, the CLBD provides general business training in supply-chain management, financial management and human resource management, and mentors firms to meet the guidelines of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 compliance.
Asked whether the CLBD intends to assist sectors outside of oil and gas, Henry said:

“We will, and it’s during the course of this year that we will start that process of looking at other sectors and talking to associations in those sectors and figuring out the needs.”
Gaskin-Peters chimed in, saying that in some ways, the centre has already begun the process.

“In a way,” she said, “we have already started… When we’re doing courses in Financial Management, for example, it’s broader business development; it’s not only for oil and gas, but it’s to support businesses as a whole.”

In its effort to assist firms to capitalise on opportunities in the oil-and-gas sector, the CLBD has conducted several out-of-town outreaches in Linden and New Amsterdam.

Plans are now in place for the centre to conduct similar outreaches on the Essequibo Coast, in Region One (Barima-Waini) and Lethem in February.