Oil Groups News

CGG SA announces that all creditor classes entitled to vote on the chapter 11 plan proposed in the chapter 11 cases commenced on 14 June 2017 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York by CGG SA’s 14 main foreign, direct and indirect subsidiaries, each a borrower or guarantor in respect of CGG Group’s funded financial indebtedness, have accepted the plan overwhelmingly. Specifically, all holders who have cast ballots in respect of the Secured Loans, and 97.14% in number and 97.96% in amount of those casting ballots in respect of the Senior Notes, voted in favour of the plan. Reuters reported that CGG has debt in excess of $3 billion…

French geosciences giant CGG has filed for bankruptcy as part of financial restructuring process to reduce its $3 billion debt. "CGG has begun legal processes to implement a comprehensive pre-arranged restructuring, with the opening of a safeguard proceeding in France and Chapter 11 and Chapter 15 filings in the US," said a statement from the company. CGG has executed the legally binding agreements in support of the terms of the agreement-in-principle with key financial creditors announced earlier this month. "CGG will continue normal business operations during this process, and the restructuring transactions will not affect relationships with our clients, business partners, vendors or employees," Chief Executive Jean-Georges Malcor said in a statement.

The global offshore drilling market's dip could be longer than previously expected and charter rates could take until 2017 or 2018 to recover to last year's levels, the head of Maersk Drilling said on Thursday. Oil groups continue to delay projects to save cash and rig rates will fall further just as a slew of new vessels ordered during the boom years start to hit the water, said Claus Hemmingsen, the CEO of Maersk Drilling, part of Danish shipping conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk. "With every quarter that goes by with next to no new projects sanctioned and next to no new deepwater rigs contracted, the recovery is pushed out a little bit," Hemmingsen told Reuters. Analysts at Barclays say that 13 newly built floating rigs due to enter the market this year are still without contracts.

A U.S. oil majors' Internet tanker venture is merging with a shipping dot-com in a bid to become the first live online chartering exchange for the industry. SeaLogistics, which is backed by five oil groups, is merging with OneSea Direct, which has several major shipowner investors, to combine their efforts in web-based tanker chartering, the two companies said. SeaLogistics currently involves U.S. oil companies Texaco, Chevron, Koch Industries, L.G. Caltex and Coastal Corp. OneSea includes support from leading shipping companies such as A.P. Moeller, Bergesen, Teekay, I.M. Skaugen, OMI Corp., Osprey, Leif Hoegh, Worldwide, Acomarit, and V.Ships.

The Maltese-registered tanker Erika, which sank off the French coast a year ago releasing a huge oil slick, was in a state of more or less advanced corrosion, the official disaster report said. "The vessel would not have fallen apart if it had been as seaworthy as it was claimed to be by classification societies as late as 20 days before it broke up on December 12, 1999, the report said. There was excessive corrosion, beyond norms that are considered acceptable by classification societies and the sub-standard welding was noted on the ship. Erika broke in half in stormy seas, spewing up to 15,000 tons of oil onto the rocky shoreline of western France. The two sections of the ship lie on the seabed about 70 km (40 miles) offshore.