EXXONMOBIL is hoping to spark the interest of university students in Guyana in South America Basin Analysis and Hydrocarbon Systems, with the holding of a two-day workshop to teach University of Guyana (UG) Geology students on the topic.

It was the third time such a workshop was held. It was led by Global Geoscience Recruiting Advisor, Orla McLaughlin, as well as Guyanese Geoscientist, Ashlika Persaud.

“This is something I’ve done in the UK, Australia and now that we are building an office in Guyana, we are trying to teach the students here about the type of work we do and to try and get them interested in the kind of work they might want to do when they graduate,” McLaughlin explained.

The second year Geology students were exposed to Hydrocarbon Systems, Sequence Stratigraphy and Paleogeography of South America, among other topics. Guyanese Geoscientist, Ashlika Persaud, in a release from ExxonMobil, noted that it was a great experience.

“This is one of the things I’ve wanted to do when I pursued a career in geology and started working with ExxonMobil. I really want to give back to the country and the students and hopefully inspire them,” Persaud, who was instrumental in the discovery and naming of Tilapia earlier this year, said.

Meanwhile, several of the students were enthused about the opportunity, particularly because of the absence of a specific component on oil and gas in the existing curriculum. “I was a bit nervous with the practical because it is something new we are doing, but I came with the expectation of learning and being informed about oil and how everything works,” Rianna Cobis expressed. Her colleague, Keith Da Silva indicated: “This is a very good initiative since our country is new to oil, so educating a lot of persons will be very beneficial in time to come.”