WHEN the Errea Wittu arrived in Guyana over a week ago, the headlines, quite rightly so, focused on what it represents for oil production. Guyana now has its fifth Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO), and with first oil expected by year-end, the country is moving closer to producing more than one million barrels of oil per day. But there is another story sitting beneath the scale of the vessel and it is one that deserves just as much attention: the skills and capabilities Guyanese are building as successive FPSO projects are delivered.
Errea Wittu is significant for another reason. It is the first FPSO in ExxonMobil Guyana’s fleet to be delivered by MODEC, following four vessels delivered by SBM Offshore. Built for the Uaru development, it is designed to produce approximately 250,000 barrels of oil per day, process up to 540 million cubic feet of gas per day and operate in water about 1,690 metres deep. Those numbers demonstrate the scale of the technology coming into Guyana, but they also raise an important question. As the vessels become more sophisticated, are Guyanese workers and businesses building deeper technical capability alongside them?
There are already signs that they are.
An FPSO does not simply arrive offshore and start producing oil. It is essentially a floating industrial facility, requiring expertise across engineering, electrical systems, instrumentation, maintenance, marine operations, logistics, safety, process operations and a long list of specialised disciplines. Each new project therefore creates another opportunity for Guyanese professionals to gain exposure to systems and standards.
The Errea Wittu offers a particularly useful example. Three Guyanese companies, Guyana Oil and Gas Support Services Inc., Asequith Guyana and ZECO Group of Services, were contracted by MODEC to provide fabrication services for the vessel. That may sound like a small part of a multibillion-dollar project, but it represents an important shift. Work that forms part of an FPSO’s development is increasingly being performed by Guyanese businesses, allowing local companies to learn how major international contractors operate and what standards they expect.
That experience has value long after a particular contract ends.
A company that learns how to meet the specifications of one international project is better positioned to compete for the next. A technician who gains experience working to offshore standards becomes better equipped to contribute to the next project. An engineer exposed to a complex production system takes that knowledge into future assignments. In this way, each FPSO becomes another platform for accumulated learning and experience, with the learning extending beyond the vessel itself.
The same applies to the workforce. Guyana’s oil industry is creating demand for people who can do much more than operate equipment. And the technology is only becoming more advanced.
Errea Wittu incorporates a combined-cycle power generation system and advanced digital capabilities designed to improve efficiency, process safety and equipment reliability. It also has provisions that support future remote operations. For Guyanese professionals, exposure to technology of this kind reinforces the importance of continued investment in technical education and specialised training. The more advanced the equipment becomes, the more important it is that the people working with it understand not only how the technology operates, but the systems, standards and processes behind it.
This is where the local content conversation becomes more meaningful. It cannot stop at counting how many Guyanese are employed or how many contracts are awarded locally. The bigger question is what capability remains after the project is delivered.
If a local company completes a fabrication scope and becomes better equipped to undertake another, that is capability. If a young engineer gains experience with systems that were previously unfamiliar, that is capability.
The vessel may spend most of its life nearly 200 kilometres offshore, but the knowledge associated with it does not have to stay there. One of the most important measures of Guyana’s progress in oil and gas should therefore be not only how much we produce, but how much knowledge, skill and capability we retain along the way. The greater value of successive projects will be seen in whether Guyana’s workforce and businesses are increasingly capable of taking on more technical and specialised roles as the industry develops.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.