Saipem Wins US$150 Million Exxon Guyana Subsea Contract

Guyana · Energy

Italy’s Saipem has landed another slice of Guyana’s oil boom: ExxonMobil has awarded it an initial US$150 million contract — potentially worth up to US$1.5 billion — to build the subsea backbone of the Longtail deepwater project. The Limited Notice to Proceed enables immediate detailed engineering and procurement, with full construction and installation pending a final investment decision.

The award

ExxonMobil Guyana Limited has handed Saipem — one of the world’s largest offshore engineering and construction contractors — a Limited Notice to Proceed (LNTP) valued at roughly US$150 million. The LNTP lets Saipem begin detailed engineering and procurement now, while the main construction-and-installation scope waits on government and regulatory approvals and a final investment decision (FID) by ExxonMobil and its Stabroek Block partners.

The award ranked among Saipem’s largest of the second quarter of 2026, reflecting the massive scale of Guyana’s offshore development. Once fully approved, the complete SURF contract would run about four years and be worth between US$750 million and US$1.5 billion.

This is Saipem’s eighth contract offshore Guyana, reinforcing a long-standing partnership with ExxonMobil in the Stabroek Block. The repeated selections speak to the confidence the Italian contractor has earned through consistent execution on previous deepwater projects in the country.

What Saipem will build

The job covers the SURF system — the subsea structures, umbilicals, risers and flowlines that connect wells on the seabed to a floating production vessel above. For Longtail, that work sits in about 1,750 meters of water.

Deepwater SURF installations require specialized vessels and expertise, areas where Saipem has a proven track record in Guyana. The company will mobilize its state-of-the-art construction fleet to execute the engineering, transport, and installation, drawing on experience from earlier Stabroek campaigns.

Separately, SBM Offshore is running front-end design for the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel that will anchor the development. This design work signals that the broader Longtail engineering is advancing steadily, with subsea and topsides teams working in parallel toward a final investment decision.

The bigger picture

Longtail is one more piece of the Stabroek Block, the ExxonMobil-operated acreage that has vaulted Guyana into the ranks of the world’s fastest-growing oil producers. The block already hosts multiple producing FPSOs, and several more developments are in the pipeline, underscoring the vast resource potential still being unlocked.

That this is Saipem’s eighth contract offshore the country signals both the pace of Guyana’s build-out and ExxonMobil’s continued reliance on the Italian contractor to deliver it. Saipem has been a key subsea partner from the earliest Liza phases, and each new award deepens its footprint in one of the industry’s most active deepwater basins.

If the full EPCI scope is confirmed after FID, it would lock in years of work tied to one of the most consequential oil provinces to emerge this decade. The Longtail contract would further cement Guyana as a long-term, high-value market for offshore services and highlight Saipem’s central role in making the country’s oil boom a reality.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Saipem win in Guyana?
ExxonMobil Guyana awarded Saipem a Limited Notice to Proceed worth about US$150 million for the subsea system of the Longtail project in the Stabroek Block. The SURF scope covers engineering and installation of subsea structures, umbilicals, risers, and flowlines in around 1,750 meters water depth.

How big could the contract be?
Once fully approved, the contract would run about four years with an estimated overall value of between US$750 million and US$1.5 billion. This full value is contingent on a final investment decision by ExxonMobil and its partners, as well as government and regulatory approvals.

Why does it matter for Guyana?
Longtail is another development in the ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek Block that has turned Guyana into one of the world’s fastest-growing oil producers. It is Saipem’s eighth contract offshore the country, demonstrating the scale and momentum of Guyana’s offshore oil boom.

Sources: ExxonMobil; Saipem; Stabroek Block.