Twelve students participating in a Youth Apprenticeship Programme being conducted by Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources were taken on a tour of ExxonMobil’s Centre for Local Business Development in Georgetown on Thursday.
The youths were briefed on the industry and had an opportunity to see some of the facilities and equipment being utilized by ExxonMobil in Guyana.
Country Manager, Rod Henson said, “We at ExxonMobil are extremely happy to host the young Apprentices from the Ministry of Natural Resources. We talk to them a little about our industry. We took them on a little field trip to our shore-base and help them to see some of the equipment that is used on the rig, and now we are finishing up here at the Centre for Local Business Development.”
Henson added that with Guyana’s emerging oil and gas sector, it is important that the young people have a more in-depth understanding of the opportunities that can be had.
“The young people are the future for Guyana. I talked to several of them and some want to be engineers, some want to be plumbers, some want to be technicians and that is exactly what we need in the future for this industry,” he stated.
The Country Manager said he was intrigued by the level of interest shown by the young Apprentices. “They asked a lot of questions and they were not afraid to get out there and touch the equipment and try to understand a little bit about what’s going on. These folks seem to have the drive to succeed in the future,” he pointed out.
Oilnow also spoke with two of the students, who expressed a desire to enter the field of oil and gas.
15-year-old, Noel Sukhai of Essequibo, Region Two, said, “I always wanted to be a doctor and now this experience is making me think of a career in oil and gas. I am thinking of becoming a Petroleum Engineer, because of the fascination of what I saw, while on the tour of ExxonMobil’s operations.”
Fatima Karim, who only began the Apprenticeship programme on Tuesday, due to her being out of the country, participating in an innovation programme in science and engineering, said she hopes to someday become a Petroleum Engineer as well. “This has opened my eyes to the field of Petroleum engineering in the future,” she commented.
The Youth Apprenticeship Programme will conclude on August 28.
