AS Guyana’s oil and gas sector continues to expand, project developments like new shore bases and the relocation of companies from historic producers like Trinidad have created both opportunities today and the potential for transformational economic benefits in the future. New shore base facilities will contribute to opportunities in Guyana and benefit all sectors of the economy, not just oil and gas.
The recently announced state-of-the-art Port of Vreed-en-Hoop facility will be a game-changing investment for all sectors in Guyana. By combining a dry dock, offshore terminal, fabrication yard, wharfs and berths, the facility will help make Guyana’s oil and gas service sector competitive and enhance the ease of doing business in the country. Importantly, the project developer, NRG Holdings, is a 100 per cent Guyanese-owned consortium of local businesses. This is one of the clearest signs yet that Guyanese companies are taking advantage of homegrown opportunities. The benefits will go beyond the facility itself and into the local community.
The government has committed to building a training centre at the port to help residents of the Essequibo Islands/West Demerara region increase their skills and find jobs. This new shore base will directly and indirectly employ between 2,000 and 5,000 persons. Currently, shore base facilities in Guyana lack the size and capacity to support increased activity in the country. The VEHSI facility is currently leasing a 20-acre area for the next 20 years, but has the potential to increase project size over time dependent on ramp up.
Facilities like this will play a key role in servicing oil and gas production. Those functions, and the jobs and investment that come with them, have been rapidly shifting from Trinidad and Tobago, which has long hosted major regional oil and gas service operations. Now many of these functions have moved permanently to Guyana. Late last year, ExxonMobil moved its supply chain services from Trinidad to Guyana, which created new jobs for Guyanese and will continue to generate new jobs in the long-term as the company’s operations continue to expand with growing production.
ExxonMobil also recently signed an agreement with the Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase Inc. (VEHSI) to utilize 20-acres at the Port Facility for shore base services. Speaking at the ceremonial signing on Friday April 22, President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, said, “It has many strategic aspects and I’m really delighted to see that we’re spreading that investment, spreading the opportunity to other parts of Guyana. These investments are intended to be for the whole country.”
Beyond ExxonMobil, which is already heavily invested in Guyana, oil services companies like Baker Hughes and Halliburton are also making historic investments. Just last month, Baker Hughes opened a new local super centre facility for oilfield services and equipment—a multimillion-dollar investment for the next 15 years—with a promise that a majority of recruited employees will be Guyanese. Halliburton, which has built a major support facility in Guyana, transferred its fluids operations and completions services from Trinidad to Guyana.
These relocations and investments have only been possible with the availability of competent and trained staff coupled with capacity-building and skill development from organisations like the Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD). Other companies moving operations to Guyana from Trinidad include TechnipFMC and Saipem. Bristow, a provider of helicopter services to operations offshore, has also started flights out of Guyana’s Eugene F. Correia International Airport and opened maintenance and training programmes there.
Guyana’s growing appeal as the regional hub of the oil and gas industry means its facilities and capacity could service neighbouring countries like Suriname and Brazil. While there are ample opportunities for Guyanese companies to grow by serving the domestic sector, becoming regionally and globally competitive could unlock opportunities anywhere in the world. Someday, home-grown Guyanese companies could be setting up operations in other new oil regions. Guyana is already in talks with some of its neighbours to create a regional energy corridor that would link Guyana’s energy infrastructure, like the gas to power project, to Suriname, northern Brazil, and French Guiana.
New facilities in Guyana mean more opportunities to train and employ locals and more ways for international companies to transfer skills, technological know-how, and cutting-edge business techniques to local partners.
Guyana is transforming and changing rapidly as the benefits from the oil and gas industry begin to benefit our workforce and grow our economy. More projects will only increase positive economic prospects, despite global economic turmoil, and elevate Guyana as a leader in the region.