PARAMARIBO, SURINAME – Saipem is setting the stage for major local content contributions in Suriname through its work on the second phase of the offshore GranMorgu project, according to Gianluigi Della Rossa, the company’s Country Manager for Guyana and Suriname.
Speaking during a panel at the Suriname Energy Oil and Gas Summit, Della Rossa identified logistics and fabrication as the two main areas of local development.
“In terms of logistics, all the project material will be gathered here in Suriname sooner or later, according to our schedule,” he said. “Pipes coming from Mexico, Bucha module coming from Europe, forging materials, some subsea structures fabricated so at a certain time, all this project material will be here along the second part of 2026 and all along 2027.”
Saipem has already launched a tendering process to identify logistics bases.
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“We are looking for an area of 30,000 to 40,000 square meters with access to the river,” Della Rossa said. “This is the area that we are going to use for storage and potentially also for fabrication.”
He noted that capacity development will include training local subcontractors to handle load-in and load-out operations. “Doing load-in and load-out of pipes is going to be new here in Suriname,” he explained. “We are going to train our logistics subcontractors in order to manage properly these types of equipment.”
The second focus is fabrication, especially of subsea structures. “We have just started to scout in the local market,” he said. “There is a good level of expertise, which we have to develop to achieve the standards, for example, of our welding requirements.”
“Pipe welding is a peculiar thing. We have specific welding procedures,” Della Rossa continued. “We are going to train the local welders up to the standards of the industry requirements.”
Depending on the local capabilities, Saipem may begin with simpler fabrication work such as jumpers and skids. “Everything going well, we are going to increase our scope,” he said. “The final part of the project, probably to do more and more complex subsea structures here in country.”
The company was awarded a contract by TotalEnergies along with TechnipFMC, said to undertake subsea work in support of the first oil development offshore Suriname. Saipem’s scope of work entails the engineering, procurement, supply, construction, installation, pre-commissioning and assistance for the commissioning and start-up of the subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) package. This includes the EPCI of approximately 100 kilometers (km) of 10” to 12” subsea production flowlines, 90 km of 8” to 12” water and gas injection lines, and the transportation and installation (T&I) of flexible risers, umbilicals and associated structures, at water depths ranging from 100 to 1,100 meters. For the offshore campaign, taking place in 2027 and 2028, Saipem will deploy a combination of S-Lay and J-Lay vessels, providing the optimal pipeline installation solution.
Moreover, Saipem will execute the project in cooperation with TechnipFMC, the company in charge of the subsea production system (SPS) and flexible risers and umbilical equipment packages, to optimize the integration between the mutual scopes of work.
