$6.8B FPSO, and Guyana gets the handrails

Mar 26, 2026 Editorial, News

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(Kaieteur News) – Two Guyanese companies: one a subsidiary of a foreign firm have secured contracts on the US$6.8 billion Hammerhead Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel. Not for engineering, fabrication of major modules, or high-value systems. For handrails.

Yes, handrails.

In a country now positioned as one of the world’s fastest-growing oil producers, this is what passes for “local content.” It is difficult to describe it as anything other than symbolic participation dressed up as economic progress. The contracts, awarded by Japanese firm MODEC, went to Asequith Guyana Inc. and Asian Sealand Offshore and Marine Inc. (ASOM) for the fabrication of structural safety handrails, components that will ultimately be shipped to Asia for installation. MODEC, in its official statement, hailed the move as evidence of Guyana’s “growing manufacturing capability” and a demonstration of its “commitment to local content.”

That claim does not withstand scrutiny. Handrails on a US$6.8 billion offshore production vessel are not meaningful participation in the oil economy. They are peripheral, low-value additions to a project whose real wealth: engineering, fabrication, procurement, and technical expertise remains firmly in foreign hands.

This is not capacity building. It is optics. And yet, predictably, this is the type of development that will be highlighted, celebrated, and paraded as proof that Guyanese are benefiting from the oil boom. It is an insultingly low bar. As one local businessman bluntly put it, securing contracts to build handrails on a multibillion-dollar vessel is “a slap in the face of Guyanese.” He is right. At a time when billions are being extracted offshore, citizens are being asked to applaud scraps.

The Hammerhead project itself is massive. Once operational, the FPSO will produce 150,000 barrels of oil per day, contributing to a national output expected to exceed 1.5 million barrels daily by the end of the decade. The Stabroek Block alone holds an estimated 11.6 billion barrels of oil. ExxonMobil and its partners: Hess and CNOOC—are moving aggressively, with multiple projects already online and several more in development. The scale of wealth being generated is staggering. But the question that continues to haunt this sector is simple: where, exactly, is Guyana in all of this?

Certainly not in the high-value segments of the industry. Not in the design of these vessels. Not in their construction. Not in the advanced engineering or technological services that command real profits and build long-term national capacity. Instead, Guyanese companies are too often confined to the margins—logistics, catering, minor fabrication, and now, handrails. This is not what local content was supposed to mean. Local content was meant to ensure that citizens and local businesses participate meaningfully in the oil economy that they gain skills, build industries, and retain value within the country. It was meant to be transformative. What is unfolding instead is a carefully managed narrative, where minimal involvement is amplified into major achievement.

The Government of Guyana cannot escape responsibility for this. It has approved project after project, licence after licence, while failing to enforce a robust framework that guarantees substantive local participation. The policies exist on paper, but in practice, they are yielding outcomes like this—token contracts presented as progress.  If this is the result after years of oil production and billions in revenue, then serious questions must be asked about negotiation, oversight, and political will. Corporate operators are doing exactly what they are designed to do, maximise efficiency and profit. If left unchecked, they will naturally retain the most lucrative aspects of their operations. It is the role of the State to ensure that this does not come at the expense of national development. That is not happening at the level it should. The awarding of handrail contracts is not a breakthrough. It is a reminder of how far Guyana still is from meaningful participation in its own oil wealth. It underscores a troubling imbalance: vast resources flowing out, while limited value remains. MODEC can describe this as a milestone. It is not. It is a minimum. And Guyanese should be wary of any attempt to dress it up as more than it is. Because if handrails on a US$6.8 billion vessel are what we are expected to celebrate today, then it raises an even more troubling question about tomorrow: after billions more barrels are extracted, will Guyana still be standing on the sidelines holding the railings while others steer the ship?

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• Asequith Guyana Inc., Asian Sealand Offshore and Marine Inc., Editorial, FPSO, MODEC

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