50 young Guyanese secure employment in oil industry

50 young Guyanese have been offered full time employment with oil company TOTALTEC Oilfield Services.

Those chosen for employment Friday graduated from an intensive eight-week programme in basic safety and oilfield operations at TOTALTEC Academy at Houston, Greater Georgetown.

All 50 persons were able to successfully secure jobs in operational and supervisor positions in all parts of the industry.

Chief Executive Officer for TOTALTEC, Lars Mangal, said that since 2018, TOTALTEC Academy has developed programmes to international standards and have already trained a total of 250 young Guyanese.

“We are here for what I would say is a momentous event for the industry in Guyana.

“We are graduating 50 young Guyanese men and women and this time we were able to get 50 graduates within a three-month period,” he stated.

Prime Minister and First Vice President, Moses Nagamootoo commended TOTALTEC for contributing in this most tangible demonstration of local content in the oil and gas industry.

TOTALTEC has recruited laid off persons from the sugar and bauxite industries.

“We were worried our young people, particularly those who have come out of the sugar industry and the bauxite industry, would not find place in oil and gas; it could have had catastrophic effects on the future of young people,” Nagamootoo noted.

He said that Guyana is preparing for the oil industry and will develop the skills like any other oil producing country.

“You are producing a new breed of Guyanese intelligence and this is to the credit of TOTALTEC,” Nagamootoo said.

Meanwhile, British High Commissioner to Guyana Greg Quinn said the Guyanese population benefits from the oil industry with the 50 new employees and the others who will be employed.

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, said more women have taken up the challenge and are joining the industry and this proves that the industry is not gender-biased.