Guyanese workers to help build oil production and storage vessel

Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 November 2024, 19:34 by Writer

SBM Offshore, which has been contracted to build an offshore oil production ship, would be using Guyanese workers to fabricate parts for the vessel and shipping them to Singapore for installation, a senior company official said.

Country General Manager of SBM Offshore (Guyana), Martin Cheong told Demerara Waves Online News that while the company would not be making money from hiring Guyanese companies, the plan is to build local capacity for maintenance, repairs and fabrications to the vessels that are operating in the oil sector offshore.

“What the works allow is to bring international standards locally and also to be able to pass that knowledge of what is required at an international level more so on a critical asset as an FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading), especially as it relates to safety standards, the the type of welding that is done to ensure that it’s stress tested,” he told Demerara Waves Online News shortly after a ‘steel strike’ ceremony.

Mr Cheong said SBM Offshore has purchased and provided the steel to the three Guyanese companies—Industrial Fabrications, Inc. (InFab), Zeco Group of Services, Inc. and Guyana Oil and Gas Support Services—to build some of the light fixtures, hand rails and walkways in keeping with contractual specifications. The items, he said, would be packaged and shipped to Singapore where they would be integrated in the FPSO.

Mr Cheong also said that such works would be cost effective and the wait-time for replacements would be shorter because they would be built in Guyana rather than imported from overseas. “It also allows them to transition into other aspects of work locally and als0 prepares them for long-term because, as our assets age, there is going to be need for additional work to ensure that we maintain those assets and, for us, it makes good business sense to be able to source those works locally versus having to import those workers so it’s our way of ensuring that we prepare for the future and we give these guys the best opportunity to succeed going forward,” he said.

In addition to being upskilled for work in 0ther areas, the SBM Offshore official said aspects of the FPSO would be built by Guyanese workers to the required industry standards under supervision by experts from The Netherlands-headquartered company. “There are personnel from SBM—the project team—that will be working along with the various fabricators to ensure consistency with the work, giving them feedback where improvement is required etc,” he said.

He said that already Guyanese workers had constructed the equivalent of 30 tonnes of steel parts for offshore vessels, and now they are poised to make parts totalling 300 metric tonnes.

The multi-purpose floater (MPF) hull is being finalised for transport to Singapore after which fabrication of the modules would begin. “The works that the local fabricators will be doing is with tertiary steel and those are then integrated into the larger modules,” Mr Cheong said.

INFAB’s Managing Director, Mr. Jerry ‘Max’ Gouveia said his company’s participation in the oil and gas sector was part of an overall plan for Guyana’s future growth as already indicated by increased electricity demand from approximately 150 megawatts (MW) in 2018 to more than 900 MW in 2027. “Our company’s role in supporting these projects play a direct part in the transformation. The skills, knowledge and infrastructure that we’re building today will ensure that Guyana strengthens the local supply chain and ensures that the benefits of these projects are felt across the entire economy from skilled labour to local businesses,” he said.

Founder of Guyana Oil and Gas Support Services, Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer said his company has improved the capacity of welders who previously worked in the mining and agricultural industries. “For this FPSO, we’re going to be building lightning fixtures. While the total project spend may seem small, it has a very big impact on the community and this is the importance of local content,” he said.

Founder of Zeco Group of Services, Inc. Zaheer Hack; President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge; Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat and the Head of the Local Content Secretariat, Dr Martin Pertab also spoke at the FPSO Jaguar steel strike.