Oil Drilling Rigs News

Some 2,250 workers on Norwegian offshore oil drilling rigs and in drilling and catering services on oil producing platforms could go on strike this summer after rejecting a proposed wage deal, the Safe labor union said on Thursday.Industri Energi, the largest labor union representing drilling workers, last month agreed to a deal, while the smaller Safe said it would ask its members to vote on the offer made by the Norwegian Shipowners' Association.A strike could hit oil companies' exploration efforts later this summer, although a mandatory round of mediation must be held before any conflict is

Q2 profit S$161 million versus S$205 million year ago; O&M division net order book at S$3.4 billion. Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corp posted a 21 percent drop in its quarterly profit and warned it did not expect a speedy recovery in the offshore and marine market. The conglomerate and its smaller cross-town rival Sembcorp Marine have been hit by an oversupply of offshore oil drilling rigs, with customers delaying contracts and refraining from placing new orders with oil prices expected to stay lower for longer. "Despite some pick-up in activity in the offshore market, the general consensus is that, with the prevailing uncertainty in the oil market, and oversupply in the jackup market, a quick recovery is unlikely," said CEO Loh Chin Hua.

Keppel Corp, the world's biggest oil rig builder, is still hard hit by the downturn in the oil industry and will now shut down three yards in its homeland. Singapore-based offshore company Keppel reduced its direct work force by about one third. The workforce has been reduced by 2,620 employees in the fourth quarter a cut of 11.8%. For 2016 as a whole Keppel reduced its direct workforce by 10,600, some 3,800, and about 6,800 overseas, or 35% of its total direct workforce. The number of sub-contractors in Singapore has also been reduced by 3,300. Keppel and peers have been slashing jobs as demand for offshore drilling rigs slumped amid weak oil prices. Though a decision by OPEC to reduce output renewed optimism, Keppel said it isn't expecting a quick recovery.

U.S. crude oil prices on Friday dove below $40 a barrel for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis, notching their longest weekly losing streak in 29 years after a further rise in U.S. drilling and a drop in Chinese manufacturing. Oil prices pushed briefly below the $40-pivot mark following weekly data that showed U.S. energy firms added two oil drilling rigs last week, the fifth increase in a row. The rise in rigs, which is emerging now after a second quarter lull in prices, is adding to concerns U.S. shale production is proving slow to respond to falling prices, prolonging a global glut. "Everyone is still looking at it saying 'Wow, you still don't have production coming down,'" said Tariq Zahir, founder at Tyche Capital in Laurel Hollow, New York.

BP terminated contracts for two deepwater oil drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico as the British oil company slashes its exploration budget due to fallen oil prices. Offshore drilling company Ensco said it had received notice to terminate BP-operated rig DS-4 in the Gulf of Mexico. Rival Seadrill Partners announced this week that BP had also cancelled a contract for the West Sirius field in the same region. BP confirmed the termination of both contracts, saying the rigs were "surplus to requirements following BP's adjustment of capital expenditures in response to the new, lower oil price environment. "BP remains the largest investor and leaseholder in the U.S.

After all, the industry was created in America ... it is only appropriate that the United States dominate it again. Offshore supply vessels (OSVs), also known as platform supply vessels (PSVs), have been a distinct vessel type since 1956, when the MV Ebb Tide was placed into service in the Gulf of Mexico. Ebb Tide was designed by Alden J. “Doc” Laborde to meet the growing demand for vessels to service the increasing number of offshore oil drilling rigs in those waters. Previously, this new industry had been served, albeit inadequately, by existing vessels, particularly surplus amphibious assault barges. Ebb Tide was designed with the pilot house at the bow and with an open deck from there aft to the stern.

A.P. Moller-Maersk will not invest significantly in its shipping business over the next five years and will focus on its oil, drilling rigs & ports. Maersk intends to move away from the shipping side of things and go towards sectors which generate higher profits and are more stable, reports Reuters, as informed by a recent Financial Times article. Maersk Line, the company's container shipping unit, has struggled with profitability due to the global economic slowdown and an oversupply of vessels that could intensify next year. The subsidiary is a barometer of world trade as its fleet carries more than 15 percent of all sea-borne containers. Source Reuters/Financial Times

KfW Group, Germany’s state-owned development lender, may make 1.5 billion Euros ($2 billion) of new shipping loans this year, even as rivals scale back operations in the crisis-hit industry. While that is less than new lending of 2 billion Euros in 2011, KfW IPEX-Bank plans to keep the size of its 13.5 billion- euro shipping portfolio “stable,” Christian K. Murach, head of transportation finance and a member of the lender’s management board, said in an interview in Frankfurt. Commerzbank AG (CBK), Germany’s second-largest lender, and Hamburg-based HSH Nordbank AG are scaling back their shipping portfolios amid new capital rules and to obtain approval for bailouts they received during the global financial crisis.

The MV Union Manta, operated by the URS Towage & Salvage Union, Ltd., is designed to assist offshore lifting platforms in the construction of oil drilling rigs, oil and gas production plants, storage spars, and other related at-sea construction. The vessel was delivered on March 21, 2003, and currently operates throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel is fitted with three large winches used for the handling and positioning of offshore platform mooring anchors. Main power is supplied by two 10,000 hp diesel engines, producing 'pull power' of 205 tons. This makes the Union Manta one of the world's largest and most powerful Anchor-Handling Towing Tugs. In addition to these power features, the vessel is equipped for stand-alone remote operated vehicles (ROV) and survey jobs.

Rowan Companies, Inc. said profit in the third quarter jumped 50% on overseas demand for its offshore oil rigs and drilling services. The Houston drilling contractor and equipment maker said profit in the three months ended Sept. 30 rose to $130.8m, or $1.16 a share, from $87m, or 78 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Profit in the most recent quarter included a penny a share in gains on asset sales. Revenue rose 20% to $502.2m, short of the $530m anticipated by Wall Street. Shares fell 2.1% to $38.17 by the close compared with a 1% drop in the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. Rowan said revenue from its drilling operations rose 27% to $369m as the pace of activity on its offshore rigs quickened, and it got paid more for daily operations.

Singapore's shipyards want a bigger share of the offshore shipbuilding industry, eyeing areas now dominated by South Korea, Japan and Norway. According to Reuters, Singapore-listed yards have secured well over half the 92 oil drilling rigs under construction worldwide, and are now looking to expand capacity in a bid to meet a next wave of demand for vessels and platforms needed to pump oil and gas from the ocean bed to the market. Industry executives see rising demand for deep-water floating production capacity as oil prices remain high and some 84 new offshore fields are set to come on stream in the next five years. As Keppel Corp.

According to MNA, given the rise in the oil prices and the growth in the world’s oil drilling activities, Iran’s oil industry is facing a shortage of drilling rigs, noted an official with the National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC). As a result of the record highs in the oil prices, the prices of the offshore oil drilling rigs have increased by up to 300 percent. The Oil Ministry is planning to within the framework of the nation’s Fourth Five-Year Socioeconomic Development Plan, import eight drilling derricks from foreign companies and purchase four more from the domestic manufacturers. The total number of the drilling rigs - the 12 aforementioned units also included - owned by the NIDC will amount to 60 units, whereas at present, the nation’s oil industry is in need of more than 75.