Sod turned for country’s first oil and gas training school

Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman turns the sod at the site designated for construction of the International Petroleum and Maritime Academy at Houston.

The sod was yesterday turned for the construction of Guyana’s first oil and gas vocational training school.

The International Petroleum and Maritime Academy, located at Houston, is an institution formed out of TOTALTEC Oilfield Services, which was established more than a year ago by Guyanese Lars Mangal, who acts as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mangal, along with the rest of this team, Brian Chia and Michael Henzell, each have more than a decade’s experience working with leading oil and gas company Schlumberger.

“Mr Mangal and I worked together in Schlumberger basically the largest oil field service company in the world and he thought it was a good time to come back and give back to the country and we took a big chance. We took a big risk because there was only one discovery well, Liza 1, and there was no plan for development at that time. But the oil business is a long term business so we had to be here first,” Chia, Senior Vice President of Business Development at TOTALTEC related yesterday.

“It’s a vocational academy,