Guyanese comprise 67% of total oil and gas workforce – EMGL

– company says it employs 1700 Guyanese offshore, 53% of workforce are women

ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) recently revealed in its 2024 financials that its Guyanese oil and gas workforce based offshore has grown to 1700, helping to make up the 67 per cent of the total workforce that is keeping the company’s local oil and gas operations afloat.

According to the company in its financials, not only has the local workforce grown, but 53 per cent of the local subsidiary’s total workforce are women. According to the company, “more than 6,100 Guyanese currently work in support of our Stabroek block operations, which is nearly 70 per cent of the local oil-and-gas industry workforce.”
In explaining the importance of diversity in its hiring practices, the company assured that these are not stand-alone measures, but rather diversity is a core strength in the company’s operations.
“Diversity strengthens us by promoting unique viewpoints, and challenging each of us to think beyond our traditional frames of reference. We do not view diversity as a stand-alone activity; it is embedded in our core values, our approach to how we develop talent, and the culture to which we aspire.”
“We expect our leaders to demonstrate behaviours that foster inclusive and productive work environments,” the company further added.
Back in April 2024, it had been disclosed that in the oil and gas sector over 900 Guyanese were employed as plant and machine operators; 1,203 as professionals, including accountants, lawyers, and engineers; and another 485 as technicians.
So far, EMGL along with its Stabroek Block partners CNOOC and Hess Corporation, have committed GYD11.5 trillion towards developing the six projects that have either already begun producing oil- Liza Phase one and two and Payara- or are in various stages of being rolled out- Yellowtail, Uaru and Whiptail.
The company, along with its contractors, have also spent GYD525 billion on local suppliers since 2015… the year that oil was first discovered. As a matter of fact, the company noted that the US$300 million Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase Inc. (VEHSI) is one of the long-term ways it is supporting local content.
Located in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), the Vreed-en-Hoop facility occupies some 40 acres of coastal land. Phase One of the project saw the deepening, widening, and dredging of the access channel, as well as land reclamation.
It also included work on an offshore terminal, dry dock facility, and fabrication yard spanning 65 hectares. Meanwhile, Phase Two involved deepening the dredging of the access canal and expanding reclamation. The mega-port will centralise multiple shipping and logistic services from local companies, in one location.
According to the Local Content Act passed in 2021, oil and gas companies operating in Guyana, as well as their contractors and sub-contractors, must procure from Guyanese companies by the end of 2022, 90 per cent of office space rental and accommodation services; 90 per cent of janitorial, laundry and catering services; 95 per cent of pest control services; 100 per cent of local insurance services; 75 per cent of local supply of food; and 90 per cent of local accounting services.
These are just some of the 40 different services outlined in the first schedule.
The Act also defines a local company as one incorporated under the Companies Act and beneficially owned by Guyanese nationals.
Beneficial ownership is defined as owning 51 per cent of the company. Additionally, a local company is expected to have Guyanese in at least 75 per cent of executive and senior management positions and at least 90 per cent in non-managerial and other positions.