The arrival of the Noble Bob Douglas drill ship in Guyana will signal the start of development of the Liza field which will bring first oil for the South American country in March 2020.
The vessel is currently en-route to Guyana and is expected to arrive shortly. According to Noble Corporation’s Fleet Status Report, the estimated contract start date is April 2018.
Addressing Guyanese recruits who will be employed on the ship, ExxonMobil’s Senior Director, Public and Government Affairs in Guyana, Kimberly Brasington, stated that the arrival will mark the commencement of a significant phase of the development.
“What’s really historical about the arrival of the Noble Bob Douglas is that, that ship signifies the development phase of the oil and gas industry. Up until this point, we’ve been busy exploring for oil and gas, and we’ve been very successful in finding the oil. And so now, the Noble Bob Douglas signifies the start of development…we’re actually now going to start developing these fields that we found,” she stated.
JSL International Group of Companies which currently has operations in Guyana is recruiting persons to work onboard the drill ship. The Company’s Corporate Communications Adviser for its local operation, Renatha Khan, says in order to cater for the manpower needs of the drill ship, they have been engaged in recruitment exercises – including recruitment outreaches in outlying areas such as the Rupununi and interior locations.
So far, they have recruited and are training 36 Guyanese nationals, 14 of which are currently in New Orleans and will sail to Guyana with the Noble Bob Douglas.
“We have a mixture of some of the guys that have already been trained like our radio operators. We require four radio operators; we already have two of them. They would have trained prior to this project. We would have had them in the pipelines, gaining experience in relation to international waters,” Managing Director of JSL International Javid Ramcharitar stated.
It was further noted that in recruiting persons for the Noble Bob Douglas, given the important role that the operation of this vessel will play in the development phase, the recruitment process not only takes into consideration finding employees, but ensuring that the recruits get a keen sense of understanding and appreciation in terms of what is required to be part of the oil and gas sector.
