Guyanese now comprise 95 percent of the staff at the Guyana Shore Base Inc. (GYSBI) and companies from the South American country now make up 80 percent of the operation’s supplier base.
The company, which operates from Houston, East Bank Demerara, provides specialised shore base management and integrated logistics services for operators in Guyana’s oil and gas sector. GYSBI has also developed a range of facilities catering for the industry. These include pipe and inventory management; construction; waste management; climate-controlled warehousing; water treatment; fuel storage and delivery; dry cement storage and liquid drilling mud delivery. Services include local manpower; customs and brokerage; licensing and permitting; pipe preparation and repairs; husbandry; inventory management; ships agency and logistics.
Speaking at last week’s Guyana Supplier Forum 2021, GYSBI General Manager Sean Hill explained that some of these facilities and services are provided in-house while a significant portion is outsourced. This, he said, results in tremendous opportunities for local companies as well as citizens.
“Ninety-four percent of our workforce are Guyanese, 80 percent of our vendors come from Guyana and our spend in Guyana ranges from 60 percent to 80 percent quarter on quarter. So, by all intents and purposes, the majority of all we do is Guyanese and all of the capital that we raise and all of the money that we make each year is reinvested into the company,” he stated.
The company has 364 employees—95 percent of whom are Guyanese—and this number is expected to increase to 500 this year. This is a mammoth increase from the 50 employees the company started with in 2017.
Hill said GYSBI prides itself on being a Guyanese company and only resorts to outsourcing contracts to foreign companies when the necessary goods and services can’t be obtained in Guyana.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work with onboarding local suppliers ever since we started operations,” he stated, adding, “Guyana Shore Base didn’t have the infrastructure in place when we first started operations. We do spend a tremendous amount of time and effort with a lot of our local suppliers when they are successful, coming on board, making sure that they understand the standards and expectations of the oil and gas industry. That is around quality and a lot of it is around safety as well.”
Noting that GYSBI strives to provide opportunities to a variety of businesses, Hill said the company tries to use different companies for the same service.
Hill shared, “We have tried very hard to make sure that we do not stick with those same suppliers the whole time.”
Further, Hill told participants at the virtual Guyana Supplier Forum that GYSBI will “have some large tenders coming out.”
These are tenders for goods and services including customs and brokerage; insurance; structural engineering and design; heavy lift trucks and trailers; mechanic works; chemical supplies; wharf dredging; building erection and waste management services.
The Guyana Supplier Forum was held from February 1-5 and was hosted by the Centre for Local Business Development with sponsorship from ExxonMobil Guyana and the Stabroek Block co-venturers, Hess and CNOOC.
