MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Italian contractor to build oil offshore structure, 2,000 meters deep in Guyana's profitable Stabroek block

Saipem will be responsible for the design, fabrication, and installation of subsea structures, risers, flow lines, and umbilicals for a large subsea production facility.

Saipem, the Italian energy industry services company, has secured offshore oil and gas field construction contracts in Guyana and Egypt worth some US$ 1.2 billion in total

In Guyana, the U.S. oil major ExxonMobil has hired Saipem to support its Uaru offshore oil field development, in the Stabroek block, at a water depth of around 2,000 meters. 

Saipem will be responsible for the design, fabrication, and installation of subsea structures, risers, flowlines, and umbilicals for a large subsea production facility. 

Saipem was also previously awarded four other subsea contracts by ExxonMobil in the Stabroek block, namely Liza Phase 1 and 2, Payara, and Yellowtail. Saipem will use its vessels, including FDS2 and Constellation, for the installation work at Uaru.

“Subject to the necessary government approvals, project sanction by ExxonMobil Guyana and its Stabroek block co-venturers, and an authorization to proceed with the final phase, the award will allow Saipem to start some limited activities, namely detailed engineering and procurement,” Saipem said.

In Egypt, Petrobel has awarded Saipem a contract for the transportation, installation, and pre-commissioning of 170 km of umbilicals for the giant Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.

Saipem will transport and install the umbilical between the central control platform sitting in a water depth of 70 meters, and the subsea field located at 1,500 meters, connecting to the existing subsea production systems. The offshore campaign is planned to start during Q3 2023.