Majority Guyanese-owned port company – Guyana Shore Base Inc. (GYSBI) has moved from operating on a 12-hour basis employing just a handful of Guyanese to what is now a 24-hr facility with a 94% local workforce.
Muneshwers Limited, Pacific Rim Constructors, LED Offshore, and TOTALTEC Oilfield Services collaborated in 2016 to form GYSBI. In early 2017, the company won the ExxonMobil shore base services tender and has since set out to create a world-class shore base facility to support the drilling and imminent production activity offshore the South American Country.
Within 18 months of its establishment, GYSBI was providing ExxonMobil with infrastructure, including secure open and covered storage, berthing for supply vessels, operational personnel and loading/unloading logistics support.
ExxonMobil Guyana Country Manager, Rod Henson says the shore base facility is an example of one of the many success stories emerging in Guyana where the company has so far found more than 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
“GYSBI started its contract in 2017 with about 20 employees. In 2018, they doubled their Shorebase capacity and went from 12 hours shifts to 24-hour operations. Today, they have over 250 Guyanese working at the Shorebase – 94% of its total workforce. They have seven Guyanese in Management positions and 24 in Supervisory positions,” Henson told delegates at the recently concluded Guyana International Petroleum Exhibition and Summit (GIPEX 2019).
GYSBI and TOTALTEC Oilfield Services have been collaborating to recruit and train scores of Guyanese in basic safety and oilfield operations to enable them to successfully join and participate in the country’s emerging oil and gas industry.
Executive Director of GYSBI, Robin Muneshwer has said training and building the capacity of recruits present a significant opportunity for local Guyanese to enter the industry. “We’re proud of our workforce and what they have achieved from those early beginnings of the shore base in April 2017. The strong safety culture and their skills remain the foundation of our success.”
Muneshwer said GYSBI looks forward to growing its workforce to over 300 Guyanese before year end and continuing its leading role in developing local content.
