UCITC students gain insight into emerging oil and gas industry

A number of students attached to the Upper Corentyne Industrial Training Centre (UCITC) were given insight on the country’s rapidly emerging oil and gas industry during an interactive session. The teens were lectured on the potential impact and transformation it will have on the economy.
Office Manager at the Energy Department Sharon Patterson explained that through these interactive sessions, the aim is to improve the level of awareness about the oil and gas sector and what it has to offer, especially to young persons.
“We want to be able to provide information and sensitise persons, regardless if it’s young people, the RDC, or religious groups. We want to provide information on the sector and what it offers. Additionally, we want to make persons aware of the opportunities that exist within and beyond the sector, benefits that can be derived and our aim is to provide an opportunity for participants to directly be involved in the discussions of oil and gas,” Patterson noted.
Further, she said that at the end of 2018, more than 54 per cent of persons directly employed in the oil and gas sector were Guyanese, with plans for that figure to increase to 75 per cent by the end of 2020.
These interactive sessions seek to educate a large number of Guyanese, as scores of Berbicians were also sensitised earlier this year on the multiplier effect of the new sector. This session was, however, hosted by Head of the Department of Energy Dr Mark Bynoe.
During this recent session, Bynoe explained that the sector will be managed through recruitment and instructional strengthening, the revision of the legal framework, and partnering with other agencies, while informing that the right policies will be established to assist with managing the sector.
In March of 2019, 24 Guyanese operations and maintenance technicians had joined the US oil giant, ExxonMobil, while another 50 technicians will commence recruitment in early 2020.