Global energy technology company Baker Hughes yesterday officially opened a US multi-million dollar supercentre at Land of Canaan, East Bank Deme-rara, for oilfield services and equipment.
The multimodal supercentre, which occupies some eight acres, is to be used to further establish the company’s presence here and in Suriname in what is a 15-year investment.
According to the Baker Hughes website, the company provides drilling services, drill bits, and drilling and completion fluids to several drilling rigs and has taken up residence in Guyana at Eccles, East Bank since 2019.
Country Manager, Darryl Eisler said that the new facility houses a workshop, warehouse, and laydown storage yard, including maintenance facilities and equipment. The company will also offer subsea equipment and installation services at the facility, which currently provides jobs for 41 locals who are apart of the more than 100 employees expected to be employed within the next five years.
Those present at the commissioning ceremony, including President Irfaan Ali, heard that the company intends to have a majority of its expected employment positions filled by Guyanese.
The construction of the supercentre was undertaken by local contractor JOP SP Construction, and Eisler said the COVID-19 pandemic and weather conditions were among the challenges that were encountered along the way.
Baker Hughes’ Execu-tive Vice President of Oilfield Services, Maria Claudia Borras was confident that the new Guyana Supercentre will bolster the company’s efforts to expand even further into the evolving market. “We are proud to be here, and we look forward to this exciting next phase in our work,” Borras stated.
Touching on the employment opportunities that investors provide for the Guyanese population as well as the opportunities for international companies, she said, “As you may know Guyana represents a lot of opportunity that comes in an inflation currently in the oil and gas industry. We rarely have the chance to start from scratch and our new facility and operations to apply all this that we have developed in years and in many places and bringing it here has given us that opportunity.”
During his address, Ali welcomed the investment, calling it critical to the country’s national development as he noted that it would see the enhancement of local capabilities and capacities to the local content legislations, creating a win-win situation for both Guyana and the company.
“… [T]his is an investment that will create jobs, it will ensure families do better, along with ensuring that our economy does better. There is also a reflection of the company’s commitment to investing in countries and to bring value to what they do to the people of Guyana,” he said, while offering congratulations to the company, its employees and investors.
Further, Ali said that the location of the supercentre is in line with the government’s plans for growth and development in all parts of the country. He said that whether it is at the Berbice River, Linden or Essequibo, “each area must develop its own identity of growth and development. This will bring integrated benefits for the companies.”
He added: “The landscape for this entire stretch would change drastically not dramatically but drastically in the immediate future from both government investment in terms of infrastructure but more importantly from private sector development. These communities will also have to be expanded because with these growth poles, the population shift will have to support the industries or jobs that will be created. And that is another plan that we are working on. To ensure that wherever these growth areas are maturing that the government infrastructure programme is designed to make it more efficient for you also and we are working on critical infrastructure links that would bridge all these communities and all these areas to bring efficiency and ensure that we are linking regardless of their location.”
Following the commissioning ceremony, officials gave a tour of the facility, which has six enclosed offices, two conference rooms, 38 work stations, a lab and other spaces to facilitate its services. Eisler explained that ships can easily get within range of the facility as it is near the Demerara River.
Other officials who attended the launch included Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, Minister of Housing and Water Collin Croal, United States Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch and British High Commissioner to Guyana Jane Miller.
