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Ali wants Guyanese to prepare for job opportunities in T&T
…as country hunts for oil in deep-water areas
An illustration of the Block UD-1 (The Energy Chamber Trinidad and Tobago image)
>>>Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali has his eyes set on potential opportunities for Guyanese workforce in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) as the twin-island state sets out to search their deep-water areas for oil and gas.
During the PPP’s manifesto launch, Ali, the presidential candidate for the ruling party, outlined that Guyana is the only country in the Caribbean with experience in deep-water oil and gas exploration and production.
On August 12, American oil giant ExxonMobil Corporation, which operates Guyana’s Stabroek block, signed an agreement with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for the new TTUD-1 Block, which is a consolidation of seven oil blocks. The block consists of Trinidad and Tobago Deep Atlantic Area (TTDA) 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23.
In his address, Ali noted that the PPP plans to build a diversified economy with a highly skilled workforce prepared for a resilient and secure future.
“When I speak about a highly skilled workforce, you have ordinary Guyanese young people from ordinary families…are trained at the highest global level at a centre [National Skills Training Centre] we built in less than three years here in Guyana,” he noted.
PPP/C’s presidential candidate Irfaan Ali
Ali underscored that these workers can function on any platform. “We have to be forward thinking. Trinidad needs to explore in deep-waters. Now, Barbados, if they want to go for gas, they have to go in deep-waters. The only country with experience of doing it in deep-water now is Guyana and we have to prepare our young people. We have to prepare our workforce so that we must be the first call for those opportunities when they come,” Ali declared.
He contended that grabbing opportunities when they arise, is one way to convert Guyana’s experience into competitiveness that will catapult the country to the next level.
Oil production at the 6.6-million-acre Stabroek block began in December 2019. To date, Exxon has four active developments producing over 650,000 barrels per day, with the installed capacity at over 900,000 bpd. Notably, by 2030, ExxonMobil Guyana expects to have a total production capacity of 1.7 million oil equivalent barrels per day from eight developments.
In relation to Trinidad, this publication had reported that at the signing ceremony of the deal between the T & T government and the oil major, Vice President of Global Exploration at ExxonMobil, John Ardill, noted that Exxon sees great potential to replicate its success in the Stabroek Block in T&T.
He said that the company’s partnership with the Government of Guyana had allowed them to move from discovery in 2015, to first oil in 2019 and then four projects onstream to date producing 650,000 barrels per day (bpd).
“Throughout this experience ExxonMobil has really learned a lot about the Caribbean offshore geology and that’s what position us to move very quickly here in Trinidad and Tobago our plan and my commitment to you is to bring that experience to benefit you the people of Trinidad and Tobago and we see great potential to replicate the Guyana success here…” Ardill said.
He underscored that T&T is a very compelling location for oil and gas investment and noted that the country’s deep-rooted history in oil and gas should allow Exxon to move even faster than Guyana.
Ardill also pointed to other benefits like the country’s robust infrastructure, mature dynamic industry, and deep-water port. To this end, he stated that these are all things that Exxon had to build in Guyana over the last 10 years.
“We are gonna bring ExxonMobil’s leading technology and capability directly from Guyana, we will leverage our presence, rigs, development concepts and pace and if you benchmark Guyana, it is by far the leading deep-water development in the world in terms of both scale and pace,” Ardill said.
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