PARAMARIBO, SURINAME – In an exclusive interview with OilNOW during the Suriname Energy, Oil & Gas Summit (SEOGS) 2025, Lorenzo Disaro, FLNG-LNG Offshore Business Director at Technip Energies, outlined the company’s role in the development of the GranMorgu floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, being built for TotalEnergies.
Technip Energies and SBM Offshore are equal partners in a 50/50 joint venture named STS (SBM Offshore-Technip Energies Suriname), which is responsible for the design, construction and commissioning of the FPSO. While SBM Offshore will take over operations of the vessel under a separate agreement once it is delivered to TotalEnergies in Suriname, the design and engineering phase is being jointly executed.
According to Disaro, the collaboration reflects a shared technical foundation and complementary expertise between the two firms. “We have the same offshore DNA from the history of the companies,” he told OilNOW.
He stated that Technip Energies brings significant engineering capacity to the venture, especially in topside design. “We have very strong design capability in terms of manpower and resource compared to SBM so we are complementary.”
Disaro also described the division of responsibilities between the two companies: “SBM is more oriented in the hull design while we do the topsides design; that’s also how we complement each other. SBM had the predesigned and prebuilt hull to serve the project. We take care of the design of the topside. We will jointly deliver and commission the project, once it’s delivered to Total, through another contract, SBM Offshore will continue the operation.”
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The joint venture structure was reportedly aligned with the preferences of TotalEnergies, the project’s client. According to Disaro, this arrangement was viewed as a beneficial setup by all parties involved.
With the GranMorgu FPSO marking a major milestone for Suriname’s offshore development, the STS joint venture highlights not only industrial cooperation at scale, but also the strategic pairing of global engineering strengths.
