The long-awaited Guyana Technical Training College Inc. (GTTCI) is set to welcome its first cohort of students to be fully trained locally beginning in October 2025, ExxonMobil Guyana announced on Wednesday.
The move marks a milestone in the country’s local content and workforce development strategy.
Construction of the GTTCI’s oil and gas training facilities at Port Mourant, Berbice – supported by ExxonMobil and its co-venturers – is expected to be completed in October 2026, President Irfaan Ali had said late last year.
The institution is a collaborative project of the Guyana government and major companies in the sector, including ExxonMobil and SBM Offshore.
ExxonMobil also marked a breakthrough in local industrial capacity this year with the start of in-country fabrication at the Vreed-en-Hoop Shore Base Inc. (VEHSI), where quad joints and Pipeline End Terminations (PLETs) are being produced for offshore projects.
Since its launch in 2015, ExxonMobil Guyana has stated that it and its contractors have invested over US$2.9 billion in Guyanese businesses. In the first half of 2025 alone, US$419 million was spent directly with approximately 1,800 local vendors.
As of mid-2025, more than 6,200 Guyanese are employed by ExxonMobil Guyana and its contractors, representing approximately 70% of the oil and gas workforce. This workforce includes one in three employees, who are Guyanese women, and approximately 1,800 Guyanese working offshore.
According to the ExxonMobil press statement, over 370,000 hours of training – leadership, technical, professional, health, safety and security – have been delivered to build local capability.
“We are proud of the progress we’ve made in building local talent,” Alistair Routledge, President of ExxonMobil Guyana, said. “Seeing more Guyanese take on key roles in the oil‐and-gas industry is a clear sign that our commitment to capacity building is working.”
ExxonMobil’s internship program is also showing results: of the inaugural class, five interns have been hired, and the ongoing 2025 internship scheme continues to offer young Guyanese professionals hands-on experience.
ExxonMobil is the operator of the massive Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, where 11 billion barrels of oil-equivalent have been discovered. A string of projects is in progress, with plans to increase installed oil production capacity from the current level of more than 900,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 1.7 million b/d.
See a full timeline of projects here: ExxonMobil’s Guyana oil ventures: A roadmap to 1.7 million b/d | OilNOW
