DESCRIBED as a “significant milestone”, a symbolic “Steel Strike” ceremony was held on Wednesday to mark the start of work by the Guyana Oil and Gas Support Services Incorporated (GOGSSI) to provide fabrication services for Guyana’s third Floating Production and Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, the Prosperity.
Over 30 tonnes of steel will be transformed into ladders and handrails which GOGSSI will be providing to the Prosperity. The project is considered significant because this is the first time that companies in Guyana would have had the capacity to carry out such a project for the oil-and-gas sector.
It also marks a substantial development in the involvement of local content in the oil-and-gas industry.

Wednesday’s steel-striking ceremony came one day after a similar steel strike ceremony was held to mark the commencement of fabrication work by another local company, Industrial Fabrications Inc. (InFab), which is also providing parts for the Prosperity.
The two companies are providing services to the ExxonMobil prime contractor, SBM Offshore.
Present at Wednesday’s ceremony, General Manager of SBM Offshore, Francesco Prazzo, emphasised his company’s commitment to working with local contractors wherever possible in order to help develop Guyana’s economy.

“I dream that our children and history books will describe this period as a Golden Age for Guyana. The future is bright, but the journey is not without challenges, and how we do is just as important as what we do,” Prazzo remarked.
Also present at the ceremony was President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, who also emphasised Exxon’s commitment to supporting local content. He commended the local companies for coming on board and providing services to the sector.

“This is a significant step in our bid to increase local content for Guyana and the projects that are developing the national oil- and-gas resource. This was a competitive process, and you had to invest heavily in the facility and people to win the work, and we have great faith that you will deliver this project in supreme fashion,” Routledge said, adding: “GOGSSI is a fine example of how local business are capturing the opportunities, and evidence of the progress already being made with supplier development. I would like to congratulate you.”

He noted, too, that as part of the overarching effort to expand the involvement of Guyanese companies in the oil-and-gas sector, Exxon continues to work closely with prime contractors to ensure they are equally committed to developing local content.
However, he also stressed the need for local companies to ensure that they are up to international standards, and commit to a culture of safety.
“Stringent safety requirement is essential to our industry; a robust safety culture is important to develop resources in sustainable manner,” he said.

Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat was unable to attend the event; however, a speech was read on his behalf, where he, too, highlighted and commended the involvement of local businesses in the oil and gas sector.
Guyana’s third FPSO, the Prosperity, follows behind the Liza Destiny and the Liza Unity.
A FPSO is a floating vessel used in the offshore oil-and-gas industry for the production and processing and storage of oil.
Though the Liza Destiny has a capacity to produce 120,000 barrels of oil per day with 1.6 million barrels storage capacity, the Liza Unity and Prosperity are designed to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day.