Guyana should draw on the global oil and gas industry’s accumulated knowledge as it builds local capacity for its rapidly expanding offshore sector, according to Society of Petroleum Engineers Latin America and Caribbean Regional Director Carlos Alberto Pedroso.
During a recent interview with OilNOW in Guyana, Pedroso positioned SPE as a capacity-building partner that can connect the country with technical expertise, lessons learned, and experienced professionals across the industry.
ExxonMobil discovered oil offshore Guyana in 2015 and began production in 2019. Unlike mature petroleum-producing countries, it moved into complex deepwater operations without first accumulating decades of experience from onshore and shallow-water production. Pedroso said this makes access to established industry knowledge particularly important.
“Please don’t try to reinvent the wheel. We have a lot of knowledge that the country can tap,” he urged. He pointed to the experience gained from floating production, storage, and offloading vessels operating across the world. “So the accumulated knowledge of SPE is really huge.”
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SPE collects and shares technical information through its international membership, conferences, distinguished lectures, technical publications, student chapters, and professional networks. Pedroso explained that professionals can use the organization’s network to find assistance with technical problems and other industry challenges.
“If I have a problem with anything that I don’t know about, I can go to my SPE network, and in 30 minutes I will have the answer,” he related.
He encouraged companies, professionals, educational institutions, and policymakers in Guyana to make greater use of the organization’s resources rather than attempting to develop expertise in isolation.
“Guyana doesn’t need to start from the beginning,” Pedroso emphasized. “Guyana can use SPE to have all the lessons learned, to know everything that must be done and everything that you should not do. We can help Guyana in this.”
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Pedroso also identified public energy literacy as another area where SPE could support Guyana. He noted that a significant portion of the population still needs accessible information about energy, offshore operations, and the role of petroleum in the country’s development.
One avenue is SPE’s Energy4Me program, which takes energy education into secondary schools. Pedroso indicated that the initiative could be introduced in Guyana to help young people understand the sector and share that knowledge within their communities.
SPE established its Georgetown Section in 2020 and launched a student chapter at the University of Guyana in 2024. The local section provides technical programs for young and mid-career professionals, while the university chapter supports students seeking careers in the energy industry.
