ExxonMobil has commissioned the technology firm Sercel to supply operational management software for its forthcoming offshore development in Guyana. Under a newly secured one-year contract, Sercel will deploy its proprietary Marlin system to oversee simultaneous marine activities across the energy major's global projects division.

The agreement marks a further step in the offshore giant's push to digitise coordination across its expanding portfolio of deepwater assets. Financial terms of the contract have not been disclosed.

The primary function of the software is to manage complex, concurrent offshore work, known within the industry as simultaneous operations, or SIMOPS. The platform will be used to coordinate the installation of mooring systems and underwater pipelines, tasks that require multiple vessels and pieces of heavy machinery to operate within close range of one another without interruption.

Marlin provides a real time, location based digital overview of the worksite. Project managers can track vessel positions and equipment movements as they happen, allowing them to identify potential conflicts before they arise. In an environment where dozens of assets may be working simultaneously across a single site, this level of visibility is intended to reduce logistical friction and limit the risk of scheduling clashes or near misses.

The software will be applied directly to the Whiptail project, situated within the Stabroek Block off the coast of Guyana. The block has become one of the most closely watched deepwater developments in the world since ExxonMobil first discovered oil there in 2015, and Whiptail forms part of a wider sequence of projects intended to increase production capacity in the area over the coming years.

As part of the twelve-month agreement, Sercel will handle the initial system setup and onboard the project teams who will use the software. The company has also committed to providing round the clock operational support throughout the contract period, along with routine performance reviews intended to keep the system properly calibrated as installation work progresses. This ongoing support arrangement is a notable feature of the deal, given the scale and duration of the marine operations involved at Whiptail.

The contract fits within a wider pattern across the offshore energy sector, where operators are increasingly turning to digital oversight tools to manage the growing complexity of deepwater engineering. According to Sercel's leadership, demand for this type of operational management technology has grown alongside a broader acceleration in offshore development activity, with particular momentum in Latin America, West Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

That geographical spread reflects where much of the industry's new investment has been concentrated in recent years. Guyana in particular has drawn attention for the speed of its development since the Stabroek discovery, with production ramping up faster than in many comparable deepwater basins elsewhere. As more vessels, subsea infrastructure and personnel are mobilised to support that growth, the operational challenge of keeping activities properly sequenced and monitored has grown correspondingly.

For ExxonMobil, the deployment of Marlin at Whiptail suggests a preference for established SIMOPS management tools as its Guyana operations mature beyond the initial exploration and early production phases. The company has previously relied on a mix of internal coordination systems and third party software across its global asset base, and the Sercel contract indicates a continued willingness to bring in specialist providers for site specific requirements.

Whether the arrangement is extended or expanded beyond its initial twelve month term will likely depend on how the Whiptail installation phase proceeds, and on the wider trajectory of offshore activity in the Stabroek Block over the next several years.

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