By Cassandra Khan
THE Guyana Supplier Forum, which aims to provide Guyanese businesses with valuable insights and access to the activities that exist and are upcoming in the oil and gas sector, opened on Monday at the Leonora Track and Field Centre.

The two-day event is a collaboration between Exxon Mobil Guyana and the Private Sector Commission (PSC).

Exxon Mobil Guyana, the Ministry of Natural Resources and several oil and gas contractors have set up booths at the location.

President of the Region Three Private Sector Inc. (R3PSi), Halim Khan said that the forum will have four recruitment agencies for individuals who are seeking employment.

He emphasised that Guyana must make maximum use of the benefits that can be derived from the oil and gas sector.

“The euphoria of the advent of oil and gas must be utilised in a meaningful, tangible and sustained manner so as to reset, reinvent and reinnovate all the sectors of Guyana,” he said.

Khan added: “With the coming on stream of cheaper electricity from a gas-to-energy plant, new opportunities will come across the industrial side of the value chain where lower prices for power could make Guyana competitive.”

He believes that now is the time to grasp the waiting opportunity.

Khan related that the advent of the national oil and gas sector (NOGS) and the concomitant riches must not be associated with a decline in the country’s agriculture and food sectors.

“Rather, these assets must be used to modernise, restructure and reinvigorate the agriculture and food sectors, especially those components that could readily ‘piggyback’ on the NOGS. Doing so can form an important and achievable element of Guyana’s efforts in local content. Unlike many highly sophisticated inputs demanded by the oil and gas industry, reliable and safe food service is something Guyanese can quickly enter and profit from,” he said.

He noted that Guyana lifted its first commercial shipment of oil in December 2019 and with the estimated reserves of ten billion barrels of oil equivalent, all businesses and service providers have an opportunity to benefit from the growth and development that goes along with standardisation.

“Standardisation allows the oil and gas industry to operate safely and reliably all over the world. It helps operators manage and reduce risks, provides information vital for training workers, improves public trust, meet higher performance levels and increase efficiency.,” he said.

Khan noted that this is something local businesses must embrace and evolve towards.

He noted that the Guyana Supplier Forum would provide a unique platform for Guyanese suppliers to receive up-to-date information on the procurement process, key contacts, and upcoming tenders for 2022 and beyond directly from ExxonMobil Guyana and its leading prime contractors for offshore oil and gas and the gas-to-energy project.

BENEFICIAL FOR REGION THREE
Meanwhile, Guyana Chronicle spoke to a few of the exhibitors who shared information about the services they offer and their expectations.

Director of Operations at Western Logistics Guyana, Pradeep Ramoutar, related that his company does the agency work for the Vreed-en-Hoop shore base facility.

“As you know, they are building the shore base for the Region Three area which is why we have this forum here…we do all the agency work for them. Also, we provide recruitment to seafarers as well for the supply boats that come here to work as well,” he said.

Ramoutar said that the agency provides close to 20 services which involves everything a supply boat company would want.

“We have been doing this for about five years and we have grown our capacity to meet the needs of our clients on a 24-hour basis, seven days a week,” he said.

Ramoutar said that the forum would benefit small businesses which would like to be a part of the industry in Region Three.

“Now Region Three has the suppliers, vendors and everybody to come on board. So, this is a beneficial aspect for this area and for the shore base and all the small or medium scale businesses that can come and be a part of the sector,” he noted.

One of the Directors at Marine Traders Atlantic Inc., Asif Hamid, explained that his company offers logistic services, both locally and internationally.

“We are also offering marine services, the surveying of vessels and so forth and vessel charting services and we also have our school that provides all the marine training for those who are going onshore and offshore,” he said.

Hamid said that the forum will benefit their company tremendously because it would help to showcase the company which is 100 per cent Guyanese owned. He said it will also help to showcase the Guyanese diaspora, bringing awareness and exposure to the many services that are being offered in Guyana.

The Marketing Manager at Excel Guyana Inc., Shazim Ali, said that they are featuring the Excel Recruitment Division which deals with everything when it comes to recruitment.

“We have our employee of record whereby we manage your entire employment. So, if you want to hire 100 staff members but you don’t want them on your payroll, we assist you with managing those individuals,” Ali said.

He related that the main thing they are expecting out of the forum is more awareness of the division and today [November 8], they were hoping to meet with more individuals that are looking for jobs.

“There are a lot of jobs available but it is to find those individuals. So, we are hoping at this forum we are able to locate qualified individuals and place them in upcoming jobs within the oil and gas sector, engineering sector, agriculture and so on,” Ali stated.

Also speaking was Gomatie Gangadin, the Public Relations Manager at Guyana Shore Base Inc. (GSBI).

She explained that GSBI serves as a logistics hub for ExxonMobil in Guyana.

This means that they are the onshore support for the activities that take place offshore.

Gangadin said this includes “everything that has to go to any of the vessels, whether it’s drilling fluid, cement, mud, pipes [or] groceries.

She added: “For us, it means we are able to interact with suppliers, with people who want to do business with us.”

According to her, GSBI is one of the leaders in local content.

“We believe in developing local content, in creating opportunities for locals to benefit from the oil and gas here, and that means that 80 per cent of our procurement [is from] Guyanese vendors and 95 per cent of our staff is Guyanese,” she said.

Gangadin related that the supply forum provides them with the opportunity to meet with Guyanese vendors and persons who are interested, to inform them about the opportunities at GSBI, how they can be qualified to be on GSBI’s vendors’ list, what job opportunities exist and how one may be employed at GSBI.

“We are happy to do that because we believe in local content development,” she said.