The subsea scope for TotalEnergies’ GranMorgu development offshore Suriname is more than twice the size of ExxonMobil’s Yellowtail project in Guyana, according to the Guyana and Suriname Country Manager of Subsea7, Michael Gow.
The comparison was made during a recent webinar hosted by the Energy Industries Council, where the executive outlined differences in pipeline length, equipment count, and water depth between the two developments.
Yellowtail, ExxonMobil’s fourth oil development in the Stabroek Block, is already producing. It requires a smaller subsea build-out relative to GranMorgu.
“Yellowtail has 105 kilometers of pipe,” he said. “Yellowtail has 34 pieces of…major subsea average equipment.”
GranMorgu, which TotalEnergies is developing in Suriname’s Block 58, has a substantially larger subsea footprint. “GranMorgu has nearly 50 pieces of equipment to install,” he said. “Two hundred and twenty (220) kilometers of pipe. It’s a big project.”
He said GranMorgu also introduces added technical complexity because the development stretches from shallow water into deepwater areas. “So Total[Energies] has to bring in shallow water bar drilling rigs as well as the deepwater [rig],” he noted.
GranMorgu is Suriname’s first offshore oil development and is designed as a standalone project centered on a floating production, storage and offloading vessel. The project is expected to develop resources discovered in Block 58, where multiple finds were made by TotalEnergies and partner Apache Corporation.
According to the Subsea7 executive, appraisal drilling played a decisive role in expanding the project’s scope and supporting the final investment decision (FID).
“As they were drilling, they found that the field extended out,” he said. “That extension is what put them over the top for their FID.”
Subsea7 is active in both Guyana and Suriname and is involved in subsea installation campaigns tied to major deepwater developments in the region.
The Energy Industries Council said it will host a trade mission from May 11–15, 2026, focused on Guyana and Suriname, aimed at giving companies direct access to local players, networking opportunities, and market briefings for the energy sector.
