United States (US) oil giant ExxonMobil said it has made significant progress when it comes to increasing its local workforce, by creating opportunities for more Guyanese to join their team.
ExxonMobil’s Country Manager, Rod Henson revealed that his company currently employs 585 or 52 per cent Guyanese. The company’s local office grew to 40 employees, of which 70 per cent are Guyanese, he said on Tuesday.
Henson made this statement while delivering remarks at the Liza Phase 1 Development reception on Tuesday evening, where he noted that things are progressing smoothly as they should.
In addition to that, Henson said Guyanese have joined the Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) team and are serving in several professional capacities.
These include facility engineers, materials management coordinator, management system coordinator, health and safety coordinator, and health and environment coordinator, among others.
Speaking briefly on local content, Henson said over US$14 million was spent on Guyanese suppliers. Together with their contractors, the company has also utilised many local suppliers.
About 50 per cent of ExxonMobil’s employees, contractors, and subcontractors are Guyanese. That is expected to grow. ExxonMobil has also opened the Centre for Local Business Development here to promote the establishment and growth of small and medium-sized local businesses.
In essence, Henson said his company has been able to grow local business capacity and has made huge investments into the local economy, through a series of strategic development policies.
Meanwhile, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman recommitted to ensuring that Guyana gets the best out of the nascent oil sector, and will use it to develop the nation further.
The Minister also maintained that the renegotiated oil contract will benefit Guyana tremendously.
Following mounting pressure from the Opposition, the Government through the Department of Public Information (DPI) reported that ExxonMobil utilised the services of 309 companies last year.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo was the most recent person to make calls for Government to release the names of the local companies that ExxonMobil has utilised the services of.
The report said for 2018, the oil giant also utilised the services of approximately 227 local suppliers. However, Government has, so far, only released the list of local suppliers for 2018.
Among other things, ExxonMobil had said it “submits the list of companies to the Government on a quarterly basis,” while outlining that the “Government can verify the list and or attest to the public that we do in fact submit the data to the Government. Or the Government can choose to disclose the list.”
While stakeholders were optimistic that the oil giant was utilising hundreds of local businesses, many had called for the names of the over 300 companies to be divulged.
The Opposition Leader even said he found it “surprising that ExxonMobil has been relaying information to the coalition Government, on a quarterly basis, given the reticence of this Administration when it comes to keeping the Guyanese public informed of the developments in the oil and gas sector.”
