New President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, has assumed his post according to a statement from the United States-based oil giant.
Routledge replaces Rod Henson as head of Exxon Guyana after serving in a similar role in Qatar over the past six years. Henson was recently named Vice President for ExxonMobil in Houston, Texas.
New ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge
“I look forward to joining this amazing team of professionals, learning more about Guyana, and getting to know the Guyanese people, who are an integral part of our operations. So much has been accomplished since the first oil discovery offshore in 2015, and we look forward to many great achievements to come as ExxonMobil is committed to a long term partnership here,” Routledge was quoted as saying.
As President of ExxonMobil Qatar, Routledge is responsible for leading all ExxonMobil-affiliated activities in Qatar, as well as related international joint ventures with Qatar Petroleum in the United Kingdom, Italy and USA. He received his BEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, and an MBA degree from Strathclyde Graduate Business School in Glasgow.
The new ExxonMobil Guyana President began his career with Mobil in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1990, and has since undertaken a range of individual, supervisory and managerial assignments for Mobil and, eventually, ExxonMobil. He has served in various capacities in engineering, operations, planning and commercial functions, while working in the United Kingdom, the United States, Venezuela, Italy and Qatar.
During Henson’s tenure, he had presided over a number of important operational milestones, including the production of Guyana’s first oil in December 2019.
According to Exxon, more than 4200 people now support its operations in Guyana, 2200 of whom are Guyanese.
Under Henson, Exxon made five discoveries in Guyana last year. These discoveries have pushed the total estimated recoverable barrels of oil equivalent to over six billion. In addition, Exxon was moving ahead with its Liza Phase Two project, which will contain approximately 30 wells, after receiving the requisite approvals from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
It made one discovery for 2020, the Uaru discovery, which was announced in January. Uaru is ExxonMobil’s 16th oil discovery in the Stabroek Block. The Uaru-1 well was drilled in a new reservoir, encountering approximately 94 feet (29 metres) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir, and was drilled in 6342 feet (1933 metres) of water.
Guyana lifted its first million barrels of profit oil in February, with oil tanker Cap Philippe transporting it from the Liza Destiny Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel and received its first payment the following month.
The past few months have been a trying time for Exxon and the oil industry in general; however, only recently, ExxonMobil had announced that it would seek to scale down its operations in the wake of the global uncertainty in financial markets caused by COVID-19.
In a statement, ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Darren Woods had noted that Exxon was evaluating ways to cut back on its investment costs. With a presence in numerous countries, including Guyana, this could have serious implications for oil exploration and production, as well as the oil revenues for such countries.
“Based on this unprecedented environment, we are evaluating all appropriate steps to significantly reduce capital and operating expenses in the near term. We will outline plans when they are finalised,” Woods was quoted as saying in the statement.
“We remain focused on being a safe, low-cost operator, and creating long-term value for shareholders,” Woods also said, adding that ExxonMobil has faced numerous market downturns throughout its long history, and therefore had experience operating in a sustained low-price environment.
Routledge will be joined by his wife Nikki, while their two children are studying in the US. He is passionate about education and is an avid sports fan who is looking forward to being an active member of the Guyanese community, the company has stated.
Routledge now assumes his post in trying times, as the world battles the global COVID-19 pandemic and Guyana seeks to bring an end to its seemingly never-ending elections process.
