Halliburton Produtos Ltda News

In working on what is claimed to be the largest and most complex offshore conversion project undertaken to date in Brazil, the conversion of the FPSO P-48 (formerly the VLCC Stena Concordia), FELS Setal SA, the Brazilian subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine, has achieved five million work hours without a Lost time Incident. US-based Kellogg Brown & Root’s subsidiary Halliburton Produtos Ltda awarded FELS Setal the contract for the marine conversion of the FPSO in February 2001. When completed P-48 will have an oil processing capacity of 150,000 bbl per day, and will be deployed with Petrobras in the Caratinga filed in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil.

What About Cuba? Political allegiance notwithstanding, continuing unrest and war in the energy critical Middle East continues to wreak havoc with world oil prices, with consumers around the world struggling to keep up with fast escalating gasoline prices. While (at press time) the benchmark prices for a barrel of crude have settled just under $40, the situation has spurred new exploration and production ventures, one such speculation in the Gulf of Mexico off of Cuba. According to a recent report in The Economist (June 5, 2004 edition, page 48), Spain's Repsol has moved into position a Deep Water drilling rig off of the country's northwest coast with the intention of drilling two wildcat wells in what could amount to a successful attempt to energize a failing economy.

Keppel FELS Limited (KFELS), the offshore arm of the Keppel Group, through its subsidiary in Brazil, FELS Setal SA, has signed two contracts worth a total of $104 million. These jobs bring FELS Setal’s total contracts secured to $250 million since its incorporation 18 months ago. The first job clinched is the $90 million contract for three Anchor Handling Tugs / Supply vessels (AHTS) for Delba Maritima, a Brazilian offshore vessel operator. This follows the Letter of Intent recently announced on October 30, 2001. In February 2001, Halliburton awarded FELS Setal a $75 million contract for the marine conversion of VLCC Stena Concordia to an FPSO to be renamed P-48.For the building of the AHTS…

As ship and boatyards in the Gulf of Mexico eagerly await 'Offshore Boom 2001,' it might behoove them to look at activities transpiring outside of their own backyard, as the business of building offshore rigs and vessels has truly become a global bonanza. For example, down south, way down south in Brazil, FELS Setal SA has become that country's preferred shipyard for offshore and marine services on account of its quality workmanship and on-time deliveries, after just one year of its formation. The 60/40 joint venture company between Keppel FELS Energy & Infrastructure Ltd. (Keppel FELS) of Singapore and the PEM Setal Group of Brazil has won a total of $120 million worth of contracts in this short time.