Rig Building News

Singapore's Sembcorp Marine (Sembmarine) has agreed to a multi-billion dollar merger with Keppel Corp's larger offshore and marine unit, a year after the Temasek-backed firms began deal talks to cope with an industry downturn.The loss-making oil rig builders have been whiplashed by years of oversupply and oil price volatility as well as a drop in new orders.Such troubles have been exacerbated by the global transition towards renewable energy, consolidation at Chinese and South Korean rivals…

Keppel Corp's offshore and marine (O&M) arm and smaller rival Sembcorp Marine are working towards having an agreement over their business unification in place by the end of April, the companies said on Thursday.The companies had first announced plans to combine their loss-making O&M businesses in June last year. The deal would see Keppel spin off the new business into a listed entity, with Singapore state investor Temasek becoming the largest shareholder in the combined company.

Temasek-backed Singapore conglomerate Keppel Corp and smaller rival Sembcorp Marine are exploring a potential tie-up which would see them combine their struggling offshore and marine (O&M) businesses after years of losses in an industry downturn.A successful deal would see Keppel spin off the new business into a listed entity and ultimately exit from the legacy business. Temasek would become the largest shareholder in the combined unit, while Sembcorp will also own a stake in it.Keppel's O&M unit…

Singapore's Keppel Corporation has confirmed it has been in talks with the Brazilian oil company Petrobras to built an FPSO vessel for the Buzios field offshore Brazil.In a statement on Friday, responding to an article by Upstream Daily News, Keppel Corp. said: "The company wishes to confirm that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Keppel Shipyard Limited, is in advanced discussions with Petrobras in respect of a contract to build a floating production storage and offloading vessel for the Buzios field offshore Brazil…

Keppel Offshore & Marine has delivered its second newbuild LNG carrier, the Avenir Accolade, to Avenir LNG.The LNG carrier can also function as an LNG bunkering vessel (LBV), making it the third LBV that Keppel has delivered."The dual-fuel Avenir Accolade attests to Keppel’s growing track record in solutions for the gas value chain and reinforces Keppel’s Vision 2030 to seize opportunities in LNG solutions," said the company which in January announced it would exit the drilling rig building business.The 7…

Singapore's Keppel Offshore & Marine, a company famous for its offshore rig construction, is set to undergo a major transformation, look for opportunities as a developer and integrator of offshore energy and infrastructure assets, and exit the offshore rig building business.The company will be restructured into three parts, separating construction and ownership of legacy drilling rig assets from its core operations, "which will be slimmer, asset-light and people-light.""Keppel Corporation announced today that amidst the global energy transition and major disruptions facing the oil industry…

Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corp said on Tuesday it had identified assets worth S$17.5 billion ($12.8 billion) that could potentially be monetized, including through sales, and started a review of its loss-making offshore and marine (O&M) business.The plans unveiled on Tuesday are part of Keppel's 10-year strategy that it had flagged earlier this year to refocus its portfolio to energy and environment, urban development, connectivity, and asset management.Keppel said it was exploring options including strategic mergers and disposals for its offshore and marine business…

Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corp reported a loss in the first half of 2020 due to impairments in its offshore and marine business that has been battered by low global oil prices.Keppel posted a net loss of S$537 million ($390 million) for the six months to June, compared with a net profit of S$356 million a year ago.The company, whose businesses range from property development to rig-building, said it incurred impairments of S$930 million during the period mostly related to its offshore and marine business.The market is closely watching results for any breach of pre-conditions to state inv

Temasek Holding's $3 billion bid to acquire a controlling stake in Keppel Corp will be under scrutiny on Thursday as a big quarterly profit drop at the conglomerate could raise the risk of the state investor dropping its proposal, analysts said.Keppel last week warned that material impairments relating to its offshore and marine segment (O&M) would hurt profits, which analysts say could breach so-called material adverse change (MAC) clauses of Temasek's offer.Analysts said the impairments would typically affect net asset value and net profit after tax…

Singapore's Temasek Holdings stepped in on Monday to support a S$2.1 billion ($1.5 billion) rights issue by Sembcorp Marine as the state investor moves to help the city-state's struggling rig-building sector.Following the deal, loss-making Sembcorp Marine, which has been hit hard by an industry downturn, plans to demerge from its parent company Sembcorp Industries."It's just the next step in Singapore's long overdue consolidation of the offshore and marine sector," said KGI Securities analyst Joel Ng.

Keppel Offshore & Marine, an offshore construction subsidiary of Singapore's Keppel Corp, expects challenging conditions ahead due to the drop in oil prices but says its business diversification into gas and renewables has paid off.The company has traditionally been called an "offshore rig builder" as this was the Keppel O&M's core business in the heydays before the 2014-16 collapse in oil prices when oil fell from over $100 a barrel to below $30.However, with offshore drilling rig orders dwindling…

Singapore is preparing to house hundreds of foreign workers in accommodation vessels typically used for offshore and marine industry staff as it races to find alternatives to dormitories where the novel coronavirus has been spreading rapidly.Tens of thousands of migrant workers, many from South Asia, live in cramped dormitories across Singapore, which have become the biggest source of coronavirus infections in recent days.Authorities are moving some of the healthy residents of those facilities to other sites including military camps…

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings is offering to buy control of conglomerate Keppel Corp in a S$4.1 billion ($3 billion) deal that could hasten a consolidation in the rig building sector which is battling the effects of low oil prices.The announcement, which confirmed what two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters earlier on Monday, boosted shares in rig builder Sembcorp Marine by 12% on expectations of a likely shake-up in the industry. Shares in Sembcorp's parent Sembcorp Industries rose 10%.Keppel's offshore and marine unit…

Singapore firms Keppel Corp and Sembcorp Marine said on Monday they had reached settlements with indebted Brazilian firm Sete Brasil over long-standing contracts to build drillships and rigs.Sete, which leased oil rigs to Brazil's state oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), filed for bankruptcy protection in 2016 after being engulfed in a massive corruption scandal.Keppel and Sembcorp Marine are among a host of firms caught up in the wide-ranging "Car Wash" investigation.

Singapore conglomerate Keppel Corp is planning to add 1,800 staff this year at its offshore and marine business, the first time the company is hiring for the division after cutting thousands of jobs since 2015.The slump in oil prices in 2014 and a global oversupply of drilling rigs had hit orders at the company's O&M division, but demand is slowly returning."With the expected increase in work flow as well as preparing for the upturn we would be looking to add to our (O&M) workforce this year," Keppel CEO Loh Chin Hua said at the company's results briefing.

Singapore-based Sembcorp Marine (Sembmarine) secured new contracts worth $175m, for projects comprising the design and construction of a 12,000-cubic-metre (cbm) LNG bunker vessel as well as repair and modernisation works on 13 cruise ships.The LNG bunker vessel which is for delivery to Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) in 2021 will be constructed at Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard, said the company specialising in a full spectrum of integrated solutions in ship repair, shipbuilding, ship conversion, rig building and offshore engineering & construction.The 112m long and 22m wide LNG bunker vessel will have two GTT Mark III Flex membrane tanks with a combined 12…

Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corp posted improved results for the fourth quarter, helped by narrower losses in its offshore and marine division, and said it was seeing signs of recovery in the rig industry.The company on Thursday reported a net profit of S$135 million ($99.2 million) for the quarter ended December, compared with a net loss of S$492 million a year earlier, when it accounted for a fine its rig-building unit agreed to pay to resolve bribery charges in Brazil.The latest profit was 6 percent higher than a profit of S$127 million it would have reported a year earlier…

Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corp on Thursday posted a 15 percent fall in third-quarter net profit, hurt by lower contributions from its investments and property divisions.Keppel, whose businesses range from rig-building to property development, posted a net profit of S$226 million ($164 million) for the quarter ended September, versus S$265 million a year earlier.Total revenue for the quarter stood at S$1.3 billion, a 20 percent fall from a year earlier.Higher revenue recognition from ongoing offshore and marine projects and increased power and gas sales were offset by lower contributions from property trading, asset management, as well as the absence of the sale of investments…

Singapore's Keppel Corp posted a 44 percent rise in its second-quarter profit, citing stronger earnings from its property and infrastructure divisions that offset losses in its other segments, including offshore and marine.Keppel, whose businesses range from rig-building to property development, posted a net profit of S$246 million ($179 million)for the quarter ended June, versus S$171 million a year-ago.Total revenue at the company, in which Singapore state investor Temasek is the biggest shareholder, was S$1.52 billion, slightly lower than the S$1.55 billion posted a year ago.Profit at the company's property division rose 132 percent to S$225 million, helped by en bloc sales in some development projects and a fair value gain.Its offshore and marine (O&M) division, which builds drilling r

Singapore-based Keppel Corp said on Wednesday its offshore rig-building unit is on track to deliver in May what the shipbuilder said will be the first tugboat in southeast Asia that can run on liquefied natural gas (LNG). The vessel will be one of seven dual-fuel vessels the company is building, and will be able to run on LNG and diesel, a spokesman for Keppel said, without disclosing how much the ship cost to build. A second dual-fuel LNG tug is due to be delivered by June or July, he said. The introduction of the vessels comes as Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority pushes ahead with an LNG bunkering pilot programme, designed to support the building of LNG-fuelled vessels.

Singapore's Sembcorp Marine swung to a net loss in the fourth quarter, with revenue plunging 21 percent due to lower rig-building revenue, fewer floater and offshore platforms projects.   The rig builder reported a net loss of S$33.8 million ($25.59 million) for the three months ended December, compared with profit of S$34.3 million a year ago.   The company's full-year net profit slumped 82 percent to S$14.1 million. Analysts expected Sembcorp to report a net income of S$70.6 million for the full year, according to Thomson Reuters data.   Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan

Global exploration and production (E&P) capex spending continues to show signs of improvement, underpinned by higher oil prices, says Sembcorp Marine Ltd (SembMarine). Offshore rigs utilization and day rates have stabilized, but rig orders recovery may take some time as the oversupply in most drilling segments has yet to re-balance. The production segment remains encouraging and we are responding to increasing enquiries and tenders for innovative engineering solutions. We continue to make progress in our efforts to develop and commercialise our Gravifloat technology for near-shore gas infrastructure solutions. Demand for repairs and upgrades, especially for LNG carriers and cruise ships remains strong.

Following the Letter of Intent signed by Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Keppel FELS Limited, with Awilco Drilling PLC, Keppel has secured the contract to construct a mid-water semisubmersible (semi) drilling rig for harsh environment use worth about $425 million. As part of the transaction, Awilco has independent options to order up to another three similar rigs to be exercised within 12, 24 and 36 months respectively. The prices of the three additional rigs are subject to cost adjustments and will only be finalised and announced separately if and when the options are exercised. Scheduled for completion in 1Q 2021, the rig will be built to Moss Maritime's CS60 ECO MW design.