ExxonMobil Guyana has spent over US$35 million or approximately 7.1 billion Guyana dollars on more than 500 local suppliers in the first quarter of this year. The company said local suppliers remain important to the success of its operations and through the Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD), it continues to strengthen the capabilities of Guyanese businesses, improving their competitiveness and the country’s overall industrial base.
The Centre continues to be a reliable resource for information on safety, technical standards, procurement opportunities, tendering processes and project-specific information. It provides mentoring, access to financial support services and business-to-business networking opportunities.
“We take workforce development, supplier development and strategic investments…very seriously,” Deedra Moe, ExxonMobil Guyana’s Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs said in an interview on Tuesday.
The company recently finished compiling its first quarter results for local content in Guyana which shows the local workforce is growing as exploration and production plans continue to expand.
“We actually have now more than 2200 Guyanese working on our projects which is nearly 53% of our workforce which is pretty incredible. Just the first quarter alone, we’ve worked with more than 500 vendors that are either providing supplies for us or doing activities and spent more than US$35 million here in Guyana with those local entities as well,” Moe said.
One notable challenge going forward is the COVID-19 pandemic which has already forced a number of companies around the world and in Guyana, to either slow down or stop their operations entirely. While some aspects of ExxonMobil’s operations are being affected, the company continues to ramp-up production at the Liza Phase 1 Development – its first oil production project at Stabroek Block.
“I think one of the things that we’re going to need to be cognizant of is that the potential impact of COVID-19 on businesses moving forward. We’re going to be watching that space because you might see that kind of dip in the future,” she pointed out.
The challenges of crew rotations due to the global lockdown in response to the pandemic have slowed down drill operations at the Stabroek Block. As such, the company has said it expects a delay in its future developments of roughly 6 to 12 months…pushing its production objective of more than 750,000 barrels per day into 2026.
The number of Guyanese supporting ExxonMobil’s exploration, development and production activities has been steadily growing since the company began operations in the South American country. To date it has made a total of 16 discoveries at Stabroek Block amounting to more than 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources.
