Project development in offshore energy growth basins can generate substantial domestic employment and procurement. In response, local firms in these regions are also moving into fabrication for technically demanding projects. The opportunity is to use that demand to build companies capable of serving assets throughout their operating lives and competing for subsequent work.

ExxonMobil Guyana reports that it and its contractors spent 87 billion Guyanese dollars with 1,800 domestic vendors in the first half of 2025. Local fabrication at the Vreed-en-Hoop shore base now includes quad joints and pipeline end terminations for subsea production.

TotalEnergies anticipates a similar opportunity at GranMorgu in Suriname, where first oil is expected in 2028. It projects US$1 billion to US$1.5 billion in local content over the project’s life and more than 6,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs. Planned local activity includes logistics, well maintenance and subsea and vessel operations.

The central complication is matching these commitments to what domestic firms can deliver within project schedules. A fabrication yard may be able to weld steel yet lack an approved procedure or the cash to buy materials before payment. Even a capable firm can miss a tender if it learns of the requirements too late. Training programs face a further problem when their sponsors have different objectives and weak connections to procurement.

The Enterprise Development Centre in Ghana trained firms and introduced them to petroleum buyers, with uneven results. Researcher Austin Ablo found that six participating businesses had won contracts by July 2014, while newer, smaller firms still struggled to enter. His later research linked the center’s limited results partly to divergent priorities. Government saw local content as industrial policy, while participating oil companies tended to treat supplier development as a social-investment program rather than as part of core procurement. Firms could receive training and support, but without a clear route into qualification, tenders and contracts.

When localization commitments go unfulfilled, they can carry substantial financial consequences. In its 2025 sustainability report, Petrobras says it agreed with Brazil’s petroleum regulator to make new local content investments in exchange for relief from fines relating to 46 concessions. These required 1.98 billion reais in local content investment by the end of 2028. Localization promises therefore create obligations that procurement teams must be equipped to fulfil.

The practical response is to connect supplier development to identifiable contracts and the time needed to qualify for them. The International Finance Corporation’s guidance on local procurement recommends assessing demand across construction and operations, mapping supplier capacity and communicating opportunities and standards early. It also identifies shorter payment terms, advances and access to lenders as ways of addressing financing constraints. Which work can be sourced locally, and what would enable a supplier to qualify? These questions should inform a local content plan before procurement begins.

This provides a basis for setting local procurement targets, such as the share of fabrication expenditure placed with domestic yards. The pace of localization depends on the time needed to qualify processes, finance equipment and demonstrate reliable delivery. A published tender pipeline helps suppliers judge whether those investments are worthwhile.

One good example is the Egina project, operated by TotalEnergies in Nigeria. There, TotalEnergies paired local fabrication with investment in facilities and skills. Six of its 18 topside modules were built and integrated locally. TotalEnergies reports more than 48 million work hours in Nigeria and over 600,000 hours of training. The project also included a 500-meter quay for assembling the production vessel. Domestic participation was tied to defined technical tasks, supported by training and infrastructure.

Another example is Petronas’ vendor programs, which show how sustained support can help firms reach further markets. Its 2024 integrated report records 171 small and medium enterprises supported since 1993, of which 20 had expanded internationally. Alongside supplier development, a separate financing program had provided 357 vendors with 2.2 billion ringgit since 2018. This combination addresses both the ability to perform the work and the capital needed to sustain a business.

The commercial case for localization extends beyond construction. Recurring inspection, repair and maintenance contracts give suppliers opportunities to improve and technicians a route into more demanding roles. Operators can gain a wider pool of qualified bidders and capacity in close proximity to their assets. And host economies gain when those firms can serve several projects and customers.

Local expenditure and employment remain useful measures. Lasting capability becomes visible in recognized qualifications, dependable delivery, and contracts won from other buyers. Operators can make that outcome more likely by linking supplier development to a visible pipeline of work, setting clear qualification milestones and addressing the specific skills, standards and financing constraints that prevent capable local firms from competing. The strongest legacy an offshore project can leave behind is a base of suppliers able to compete for their next order, on the next project, on the strength of the work they have delivered.

Coenraad Bezuidenhout | Strategy and sustainability adviser | Cape Town, South Africa