TOTALTEC Oilfield Services, in a partnership with Guyana Shore Base Inc., is set to train over 120 Guyanese in basic safety and oilfield operations over a period of four months.
At a press conference yesterday, which was held at the TOTALTEC Oilfield Academy in Houston, East Bank Demerara, members of the media were told about the partnership and were introduced to the first batch of trainees in the programme.
“We are now embarking on a project with the Guyana Shore Base company that’s operating right next door to this facility to recruit, train and develop and employ 120 Guyanese in fulltime employment roles within the Shore Base company and beyond that as well,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TOTALTEC, Lars Mangal, stated.
The CEO added that they intend to go further than the 120 persons in the four-month period. According to Mangal, the academy, since 2018, has trained over 150 Guyanese in programmes which were developed to international standards. “This journey has been one very, very challenging journey to catalyze and create a capacity building effort that’s foundational to the Guyana oil and gas industry and that starts with people getting people into the industry— Guyanese young people into the industry— in a foundational way so they can start to build meaningful careers for themselves, their families in the industry in a safe professional way,” Mangal said.
Remarks were also delivered by Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman.
“Even though I no longer have responsibility for petroleum, I follow the progress as I follow the progress of the Department of Energy and it is with a great sense of pride that I believe your academy, your work and the Department of Energy are growing in leaps and bounds,” Trotman said at the press conference.
The minister stated that at the last training by the academy, he noticed that not a lot of women were trained in that batch. He noted that he had challenged the academy to have more women included in the training. “We at the ministry try to recognise the top students. I recall the first batch, they gave me a quiz or a word challenge, but I also recall that there were not too many women. They had one woman and I gave a challenge to the academy to ensure that more women are trained and employed and I’m happy to see and to hear and to learn that we now have quite a few women trained and working,” Trotman said.
The minister added that at that time, he was also concerned that the Wales Sugar Estate had recently been closed and was happy that a number of the new recruits were former sugar workers. He stated that a few of those persons who were trained were even taken abroad to receive further training and are now gainfully employed.
The current batch of persons who are receiving training are from various regions across the country and come from different backgrounds, including former sugar workers and persons who would have been in the mining industry. The trainees will receive six weeks intense training.
Twenty-year-old Travis Carmichael, who hails from West Coast Berbice, is the youngest trainee in this batch. He stated that he found out about the training via social media. “I was on Facebook and I saw the post so I apply for it and I came and I do some test and interview,” he said. The young man stated that he intends to use this training as a stepping stone into a career in the oil and gas industry. “Well looking at it I would like to further myself like next four to five years from now, becoming someone better and a lot could happen with hard work and focusing on the training,” Carmichael said. He added that he is looking forward to doing his best with the training he will receive over the six-week period.
According to 39-year-old Rawl Gardner, he found out about the programme after reading the Guyana Investment Magazine. Gardner, who had previous experience as an excavator operator, stated, “To me change is good and from operating to oil and gas, I wanted to get in, so I did the application and got through”.
The man, who is the oldest trainee in the batch, told Stabroek News that he was excited for the training. “Training is pretty good, I’m excited. It’s a push for me and I know it’s going to be challenging but I’m still excited”. Gardner said that his previous background might assist him in understanding the training and he, too, intends on starting and maintaining a career in the oil and gas industry.
According to Joseph Singh, General Manager at TOTALTEC Oilfield Services, the training programme does not have an age limit and they are encouraging young Guyanese persons to apply and get into the Oil and Gas industry. “The people that come into our programme, we do not charge them, the programme is free to them, so everyone that is on the programme is on a scholarship because we actually pay for the training,” Singh said.
The general manager stated that they bring in external trainers who are specialists in the field.
