Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
Surinamese to supply all food and beverages for offshore drilling rigs
– Guyana still operating at disadvantage in absence of local content policy & law
Staatsolie, the national oil company of Suriname, recently announced that the food and beverages required by offshore drilling rigs in Block 58 will be supplied entirely by Surinamese-owned companies.
The containers with food and beverages are delivered to Kuldipsingh Port Facility
The containers with food and beverages are loaded.
“Staatsolie is committed to the development of local content to allow Suriname to benefit as much as possible from the offshore oil and gas industry. To this end, we work closely with companies that are active in the Surinamese offshore,” said Staatsolie, as the Surinamese government is maximising local content in its country.
Block 58 operator, TotalEnergies, through its main contractor Maersk Drilling, has taken a significant step by purchasing food and beverages for its offshore drilling rigs in this Block entirely from Suriname as of this month. This result came about after consultation between Staatsolie, TotalEnergies and Maersk Drilling.
“Purchasing food and beverages entirely from Suriname will be subject to the availability of provisions and the ability of the supply boat to enter the harbour on a bi-weekly basis. Approximately 350 people work on the drilling platforms, of which around fifty are Surinamese,” the Dutch company said.
Deliveries are made with special supply vessels, three of which are dedicated to the Suriname operations. Shipments take place from Kuldipsingh Port Facilities on the Suriname River in Dijkveld. The supply vessels bring drilling waste from the rigs ashore for treatment and carry food and beverage supplies to the drilling rigs. Diesel for the rigs and supply ships is also purchased in Suriname. Notably, the revenues from the diesel deliveries can reach US$30 million per year.
Staatsolie went on to state that it is putting maximum effort into having the storage area for pipe and drilling material, the so-called laydown area also set up in Suriname.
TotalEnergies is preparing a tender for this. Once the Suriname River has been dredged and the fairway is deeper, it will be possible to deploy s
upply vessels with a greater draft. The fairway is expected to have a sufficient draft by the end of 2021. This will offer more opportunities for local producers and suppliers of goods.
In Suriname’s production sharing agreements (PSAs), companies are required to provide a report demonstrating the evolution of local content involvement in its Petroleum Operations and a plan of action to increase the level of local content. They also have to submit a list of local purchases on a quarterly basis.
Further to this, a list of the number of contractors’ and sub-contractors local hires and associated titles must be submitted in quarterly reports. Companies are also required to use their best efforts to train locals with respect to their petroleum operations, including technical, administrative, executive and management positions.
These rigid rules are not only absent from Guyana’s Production Sharing Agreement with ExxonMobil, but even the draft Local Content policy that was finalised by United Kingdom Consultant, Dr. Michael Warner. The former APNU+AFC administration had promised the nation that this document would be in place for first oil which officially started on December 20, 2019. Manifestly, that was not accomplished.
Earlier this year, the current administration had finalised public consultations for the local content legislation. However, the public is still in the dark about the status of the policy and its legislation, which Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, stated would be laid in parliament before year-end.
Until then, there will be no law to compel oil and gas companies to adhere to the guidelines that secure Guyanese jobs and services.
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