TechnipFMC, a leading provider of oil and gas projects, technologies, systems and services, says it has an aggressive local content policy and “big plans for Guyana” as it moves forward with development work offshore the South American country. The company has been awarded three major contracts for ExxonMobil’s Liza development project.
Speaking exclusively to OilNOW on Wednesday at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, International Service Manager for the Caribbean/South American region, Carlos Latorre, said the company thinks local content is essential and efforts are usually made to pull as much expertise from in-country. “…In general, TechnipFMC thinks that local content is essential for the long-term future of any operations. Ideally, we are very aggressive; we like to staff as many jobs as we can with locals.”
The industry, he said, is very technical, requiring a high degree of expertise for the execution of various tasks offshore. “We put a lot of effort in trying to compress those learning curves with the intent of having a significant chunk of the workforce locally-sourced, as fast as possible,” he said.
The company is open to considering all options that would allow for the involvement of local labour. When asked if this includes partnering with local companies, Mr. Latorre said, “At this time we don’t know exactly what would be our best option but what I can tell you is that we have big plans for Guyana. We are here to stay. We think the discovery that ExxonMobil made here is amazing, it’s something that is going to bring a lot of good things for a long period of time…”
TechnipFMC is a UK-based company that provides equipment and services for the energy industry, formed by the $13 billion merger of FMC Technologies of the United States and Technip of France that was announced in 2016 and completed in 2017. The company offers subsea, surface, onshore, and offshore solutions for oil and gas projects to customers worldwide.
