The Saipem Guyana Offshore Construction Facility, which was officially being declared open yesterday, will soon commence operations to support Guyana’s oil and gas sector.
Saipem, an Italian multinational oilfield services company which has been operating in Guyana since 2017, was contracted by ExxonMobil Guyana for engineering procurement, construction and installation of subsea umbilical rises and flowlines for Liza Phase One, Liza Phase Two and Payara projects.
The fabrication yard is located at Lot A, Lot B, Mudlot A, Mudlot B, and Water Parts of Pitman and Ashley Square, Water and Holmes street, South Cummingsburg. The main operation at this site will be jumper fabrication works, which will involve handling and erection of the piping components, welding, inspection and non-destructive testing (including manual ultrasonic testing and x-ray), painting, coating and hydro testing.
During the opening ceremony, Managing Director of Saipem Guyana Inc. Thuranthiran Nadarajah stated that the company made a commitment to have an organic and sustainable developing programme in Guyana and has worked tirelessly to ensure that it is heading in the region direction. He revealed that their onshore local operations comprises of more than 80% Guyanese. He noted that the aim is to increase this number because the facility signals Saipem’s long-term commitment to Guyana.
“It will benefit Guyana in many ways, including hiring and developing local town, overall improvement of infrastructure, creating jobs, generating revenue for third party services…provide other indirect services. Saipem has set the standard for local content and will continue with its ambitious aim to enhancing capabilities in developing skills in local workers,” Nadarajah said. He added that they plan to enable Saipem to provide logistics capabilities and services to serve their client in an efficient and cost-effective manner. He said that it is their hope that the facility will become a landmark milestone for Guyana’s fabrication industry.
Meanwhile, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Saipem America, Giorgio Martelli expressed gratitude for the support they received from partners and relevant agencies. He stated that majority of the work is being done offshore Guyana, with multiple vessels working parallel in the Liza Two and Payara fields.
President Irfaan Ali, who was also present at the ceremony, applauded Saipem for its confidence to invest in Guyana, while noting that at this stage Guyana does not have the necessary technology to fully cater to the oil and gas sector so such an investment is critical. He pointed out that the oil and gas sector provides many opportunities for Guyanese and the planned gas to shore project will bring along a fabrication industry which will include marketing, servicing, packaging, distribution and logistics capabilities. He encouraged Guyanese to take advantage of the current opportunities available
Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Alfred Mentore extended congratulations to Saipem for its consistent effort to support the development of oil and gas and also applauded it for the confidence to invest in Guyana.
“This investment forms part of Saipem infrastructure activities globally and represents a collaboration and transition to a modern state. The city of Georgetown welcomes this development. Major projects like this are testament of the collaborative role we all paly in ensuring sustainable development. This align with our objective to improve infrastructure creating and enabling a business environment in conformity of good governance for all of us in the city,” he said.
Saipem noted that the operation of the yard and wharf will directly and indirectly provide employment for over 50 persons.
The project is anticipated to last for a minimum of five years and it will be extended upon ExxonMobil’s and Guyana’s requirements and projects in the oil and gas sector.
According to a representative of the company, local content is important for Saipem and it means creating employment, developing local skill and collaborating with local supplier among several others.
Since coming to Guyana, she said, Saipem has embarked on a number of projects involving Guyanese. Among those projects was an internship programme, which saw several Guyanese exposed to various aspects of the oil and gas sector in Houston, Texas. At that time, she noted, Saipem was only contracted for Liza Phase One but ExxonMobil later awarded two more contracts for Liza Phase Two and Payara, which increased the need for expansion, and the hiring and training of more locals to support Saipem activities in Guyana. The need for more local sub-contractors, security service, office management and maintenance staff also increased and its first office was opened in 2019 in North Cummingsburg. Following this, the second internship programme was rolled out and the presence of locals in its workforce increased to 63% as compared to 2018.
The fabrication yard was developed for the site to occupy a total of 10,000 square meters and will function as a fabrication area for jumpers and other subsea structures to support the oil and gas sector in Guyana. The yard will produce approximately 8 jumpers per month. Jumpers are part of a pipeline fabricated by joining several steel components through arc welding. After the jumpers are constructed they will be loaded onto vessels and installed offshore.
Fabrication operations will require the use of welding machines, grinders, compressors, induction heaters and sandblasting guns. All of the equipment will be connected to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) utility grid, however, according to Saipem, diesel electricity generators have already been mobilised as back-up. The handling of the jumper’s parts and load-out will be performed by means of crawler cranes, truck cranes, forklifts, flatbed trucks, and self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT).
It was also stated that all sewerage drains will be connected to the city’s drainage system while all flooding drains may be connected to the Demerara River, if allowed by local authorities and regulations.
