Fred. Olsen Energy edges closer to financial restructuring
Norwegian drillship and rig operator Fred. Olsen Energy, owner of the yard that built the RMS Titanic, is considering a debt and equity restructuring that would almost wipe out the value of its current shares, the company said.With debt and liabilities of more than $840 million at the end of June, Fred. Olsen last month stopped paying its creditors to preserve liquidity, making it the latest victim of a slow recovery in the oil and gas exploration sector.The owner of seven drillships and rigs, as well as Belfast's Harland & Wolff yard, has now received indicative, non-binding proposals from equity investors valuing its current shares and bonds at just $10 million…
Navalshore 2009, Rio de Janeiro
Navalshore 2009 - VI Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Expo and Conference will be held on the 20th and 21st of August 2009. The 2008 show hosted 12,300 visitors to the 130 exhibitors displaying the latest in modern products and services for the sector’s industries. Navalshore is held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Aimed at promoting trading relations between clients and suppliers, the event is attractive to foreign companies. For this year’s edition, various overseas companies – from China, Holland, Belgium, Singapore, Argentina and Germany have announced their presence. But the largest overseas group to bring its contribution to Navalshore 2009 is from Norway…
Essar Plans Investment in Vietnamese Oil Exploration Sector
Close on the heels of announcing its plans to invest in a steel plant in Vietnam, Essar group is now looking forward to investing in the oil and gas exploration sector in the country. According to sources, Essar Energy Holdings Ltd – the group oil and gas outfit – has recently participated in the ‘2nd international bidding round for open blocks in Song Hong Basin’, offshore northern Vietnam. The bid was submitted for one block on a standalone basis, though the name of the block was not given. Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam, had launched the bidding round in June this year. The blocks are located at average water depths of 60-100 meters covering 50 square km area at 50 to 100 km distance from the shoreline.
India’s Shipping Companies Look to Offshore Investments
With the boom in the oil and gas exploration sector, fueled by the recent awarding of new blocks under NELP VI, Indian shipping companies are tanking up to sharpen their focus on the offshore segment. Only last month, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) came out with a tender for chartering of around 26 offshore supply vessels, with mobilization requirement up to the third week of November. Shipping companies such as Great Eastern Shipping, Varun Shipping and Mercator Lines have lined up significant investments in this sector in the current fiscal. In fact, the boom in the offshore sector is one of the reasons that prompted GE Shipping to de-merge its offshore division into a separate company, Great Offshore Ltd, to get higher valuations from this business.
