Bp Amoco News

Korean shipbuilders have achieved a market-leading role in the construction of LNG tankers. Following commitment to serve this market with products, Kongsberg Maritime Ship Systems (KMSS) has received a breakthrough success by receiving firm orders for its Bridgeline, Integrated Navigation System, to be fitted to seven of the new LNG tankers, with options for further deliveries in the future. KMSS will provide Radar/ARPA, ECDIS- electronic chart display system, MBB- voyage data recorder, UAIS- universal automatic identification system with full integration of the navigation instruments. The Bridgeline assembly will be carried out in Korea.

Rowan Companies, Inc. reported that the English Court has given a comprehensive judgement in its favor in proceedings between its subsidiary, British American Offshore Limited (BAO) and Amoco (UK) Exploration Company (Amoco). rig Rowan Gorilla V. The court declared that the rig was fit for purpose in all respects when the contract was terminated. Amoco had refused to commence drilling at the Arbroath platform in January 1999, arguing that much of Gorilla V's equipment was unfit and unsafe. were economic, following a downturn in oil prices and the BP/Amoco merger on January 1, 1999. The court rejected the evidence of Amoco and BP witnesses that the decision was made for safety reasons, or because Amoco had "lost confidence" in BAO. no ground for complaint was justified.

General Dynamics reported 2001 fourth quarter net earnings of $246 million, $1.21 per share on a fully diluted basis, on sales of $3.5 billion. This represents an 11 percent earnings per share increase over the fourth quarter of 2000, when net earnings were $219 million, $1.09 per share, on sales of $2.7 billion. The quarter ended on December 31, 2001. Full year 2001 net earnings on a recurring basis were $915 million, $4.51 per fully diluted share, on sales of $12.2 billion. This is a 12 percent per share increase over 2000 earnings of $811 million on a recurring basis, $4.03 per fully diluted share, on sales of $10.4 billion. Including favorable…

Rowan Companies, Inc. reported that an agreement has been reached to resolve a dispute over the Rowan Gorilla V contract between its subsidiary, British American Offshore Limited (BAO), and Amoco (UK) Exploration Company (Amoco UK), now owned by BP p.l.c. The settlement agreement was made between BP Amoco Corporation, BP Amoco p.l.c., BP Exploration Operating Company, BP America, Inc., Amoco (UK) Exploration Company ("Amoco UK"), Amoco Production Company, Amerada Hess Limited, Amerada Hess Corporation and Enterprise Oil p.l.c. (collectively, the "BP Amoco Affiliated Parties") on the one hand, and Rowan Companies, Inc., LeTourneau, Inc. and British American Offshore Limited ("BAO") (collectively, the "Rowan Affiliated Parties") on the other.

Mike Bowlin, chief executive of the U.S. oil major Atlantic Richfield Co. will reportedly receive a $27.6 million severance payoff when his company is acquired by BP Amoco Plc.

BP Petroleum Developments (NWS) Pty Ltd., the Australian exploration arm of BP Amoco Plc, has reportedly bid successfully on three Canning Basin blocks off the coast of Western Australia.

An online shipping exchange being set up by two of the world's biggest oil firms, a leading agrifood multinational and top shipbroker will transform the way traditional shipping markets work, industry experts said. The company, LevelSeas.Com, being set up by oil majors BP Amoco and Shell International Trading and Shipping with food processor and distributor Cargill and shipbroker Clarksons will potentially control 10 percent of bulk commodity movements from day one. But it aims to be a neutral platform open to all sides of the industry. "This will act as a real catalyst for change in the industry - and change for the better. Nothing else offers a seamless service to take us from the start to the end of a voyage…

With TBT paints on the endangered list due to environmental concerns, shipowners must find an alternative method to keep ships coated and efficiently clean. Jotun believes it has the answer. Bringing her first cargo to Europe following completion by Samsung Heavy Industries, the 306,000-dwt British Pioneer has given new expression to environmental-consciousness in the crude oil transportation sector. While the security of her 2.1-million barrel cargo containment has been enhanced by the compulsory double hulling, the non-mandatory continuation of the double shell aft better safeguards the bunker spaces, reducing the risk of fuel oil spillage in the event of the aftship being breached.

An online shipping exchange being set up by two of the world's biggest oil firms, a leading agrifood multinational and top shipbroker will transform the way traditional shipping markets work, industry experts said. The company, LevelSeas.com, being set up by oil majors BP Amoco and Shell International Trading and Shipping with food processor and distributor Cargill and shipbroker Clarksons, will potentially control 10 percent of bulk commodity movements right from the beginning. The independent Internet company will provide freight management services, online chartering and freight derivatives, across the $100 billion market in the global movement of wet and dry bulk commodities by sea, the four firms said.

Transocean Sedco Forex Inc announced that net income for the three months ended March 31, 2000 was $32.5 million on revenues of $300.8 million. The results include a cash settlement of $25.1 million, relating to the previously reported agreement with BP Amoco to cancel the remaining 14 months of firm contract time on the semisubmersible Transocean Amirante. Net income for the corresponding three months in 1999 was $11.3 million on revenues of $189.2 million. Operating and maintenance expense for the first quarter of 1999 included charges for severance costs and provisions for potential legal claims totaling $42 million. The December 1999 merger of Transocean Offshore Inc.

When Texaco, now represented in the marine lubricants market by FAMM (Fuel and Marine Marketing), launched Taro 40 XL 40, the lubricant was designed to address pressing field problems in medium speed engines. Three years later FAMM is in a position to evaluate the performance in a large number of engines and to compare the field results with competitive lubricants. The pressing problems arose from a series of engine design and fuel processing changes. Although aimed at improving engine efficiency and making savings, the changes resulted in a series of difficulties. The best known are engine blackening, undercrown deposits, piston head corrosion, fouling of purifier heaters, increased oil consumption, base number depletion, oil scraper ring clogging and increased piston deposits.

Crowley Petroleum Transport, Inc., a Long Beach, Calif.-based subsidiary of Crowley Maritime Corporation, is now operating the tanker Prudhoe Bay chartered to ARCO Products, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of BP Amoco. The Prudhoe Bay, formerly the Arco Prudhoe Bay, is a 70,000 DWT steam tanker with a capacity of 478,000 barrels. There are 13 epoxy-coated cargo tanks on the ship, which is 810 ft. long with a 105 ft. beam and a maximum draft of 44 fet. Prudhoe Bay is currently trading on the West Coast, primarily in Puget Sound. Crowley, the largest independent operator of petroleum barges and tankers on the West Coast, also owns and operates the 40,000 dwt tankers Coast Range and Blue Ridge. Each offers 300,000 barrels of capacity.

Last week it was announced that BP Amoco Shipping and BIMCO had developed a new charterparty, as the BIMCO Documentary Committee gave its approval to a new standard tank time charterparty, code named BPTIME3. BP Amoco Shipping, which has a long tradition of developing tank charterparties, saw it as its objective to draft a new time charterparty applying clear language and striking a good balance between the two parties. "We wanted to draw up a charterparty that is easy to read, easy to use and reflects the interests of both parties," said Adrian McMahon, BP Amoco Shipping's Manager Chartering and Operations. "We felt that in order to ensure that the right balance was struck it was important to bring the ship owners into the process…

Consolidation in the maritime industry is not something new. In the past five years, oil majors such as Exxon and Mobil, and BP, Amoco and Arco have all consolidated. Shipyards haven't been immune to mergers, either; as Halter was purchased by Friede Goldman; and Litton Ingalls consolidated with Avondale. But, when equipment manufacturers begin to consolidate, the effects aren't quite as obvious. In the past five years, Caterpillar acquired MaK and, more recently, Sabre. And Rolls-Royce has joined the buying frenzy with such zeal and aggression, it's almost easier to list companies not owned by the propulsion giant. Part of the ambiguity of the merger between equipment manufacturers is, typically, the existing product line is still maintained; just owned and distributed by the new company.

An oil tanker owned by Exxon Mobil subsidiary SeaRiver Maritime was ordered back to Valdez on May 22 after developing a leak, the operator of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline said. The SeaRiver Long Beach was about 10 minutes into its journey from the Valdez marine terminal when crew members from an escort vessel spotted an oil sheen in its wake, said Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. The U.S. Coast Guard ordered the tanker back to the terminal, where it was surrounded with boom and examined, Alyeska said. Divers discovered a three-inch hairline fracture in the center cargo tank, a spokesperson said, adding that less than 10 gallons of oil had leaked through the crack. The oil from the Long Beach was loaded the Marine Columbia, operated by the Alaska Tanker Co.

Not only did most oil producing companies post increased income and revenues in the first quarter 2000, compared to 1999, but in some cases, the increases were record-setting. In fact, Conoco's first quarter was the best quarter in the company's 125-year history. Here is a capsulated report of several companies' earnings. USX-Marathon Group's net income adjusted for special items was $199 million in first quarter 2000, compared with a net loss adjusted for special items of $11 million in first quarter 1999. The Marathon Group recorded first quarter 2000 net income of $254 million, which included a $55 million favorable aftertax gain on the sale of its 33.34 percent interest in the Angus/Stellaria development in the Gulf of Mexico. Net income in first quarter 1999 was $119 million.

Dutch oil, chemicals and storage group Petroplus is one of the partners to launch an Internet-based portal and online exchange to transform the traditional Rhine-based shipping sector. Shippers, integrated barge owner companies, independent barge brokers and individual barge owners will have the opportunity to conduct business online through this portal, Petroplus said in a statement. The other founding shareholders of the project are BP Amoco, shipping and tank storage firm Royal Vopak and Germany's Marquard & Bahls AG which trades under the brand names Mabanaft and Oiltanking. The project is supported by the Rhine Barge Owners Association, Petroplus added. Management and technology consultancy Booz Allen & Hamilton will provide strategy and e-technology services to the venture.

Offshore oil and gas driller Global Marine Inc. said 2Q earnings were flat versus a year ago but surpassed Wall Street expectations as oil companies gradually regained their appetite for drilling in response to strong oil and gas prices. Net income was $28.1 million, or 16 cents per share, virtually unchanged from $28.2 million, or 16 cents per share, in the second quarter of 1999. Analysts had expected earnings of 14 cents a share, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. CEO Bob Rose said high oil and natural gas prices were causing oil companies to overcome their initial hesitance and increase their drilling budgets for finding and producing new oil and gas reserves.

Bouygues Offshore’s SN Technigaz won a contract worth approximately $82 million in Spain. Bahia de Bizkaia Gaz (BBG) chose SN Technigaz to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and regasification terminal in Bilbao, Spain. The BBG contract will be carried out via a joint venture between SN Technigaz, Initec and Sofregaz, it said. The total value of the tripartite contract is $204 million. BBG is a Spanish gas marketing company owned equally by BP Amoco, Repsol, Iberdrola and Ente Vasco de la Energia.

BP Amoco Plc said it should be able to provide an update on its giant Crazy Horse deepwater oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico when two appraisal wells are completed during the next couple of months. "I would say the preliminary results are very encouraging and hopefully we will have some news in the near future," BP Amoco's Houston region Vice President David Welch told reporters after addressing the American Petroleum Institute's Houston chapter. The London-based company announced the Crazy Horse discovery last year, estimating that it contained reserves of at least one billion barrels of oil, making it the biggest ever deepwater discovery in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP Amoco ordered two liquified natural gas (LNG) ships, with options to purchase three more, from Samsung Heavy Industries Co for in excess of $300 million. The oil giant, which is the world's second largest non-state producer of natural gas, said construction will start in April 2001 with delivery of the first ship in the fourth quarter of 2002 and the second in the first quarter of 2003. "This order is part of our strategy for rapidly growing our internationally traded gas business. It is unusual in that it does not follow the traditional convention of tying vessel orders to specific gas sources and specific gas customers," said Richard Flurry, chief executive, Gas and Power in a statement.

In extending its adherence to delivering cost-efficient and safety driven technologies, DNV has introduced a new means of quickly and accurately determining steel thickness can speed ship surveys. It is especially valuable in inspecting old and corroded steelwork. Present-day methods, based on ultrasonic thickness measurements, are said to have dubious reliability on heavily corroded plates, and for large vessels are also considered too slow. The basic technological challenge was to transmit 100 percent of the signal energy through corroded steel plates, and receive and interpret the reflected signal to give an accurate thickness measurement. The basic principles of the new measuring method (half-wave resonance) have been known for 40 years.

Much as has transpired in mainstream consumer markets, the dot com craze has recently enveloped the maritime world with promises of cost savings and operational efficiencies. While an attrition and natural process of consolidation can eventually be expected, the world of e-commerce solutions for the maritime market is definitely in its infancy. While it is impossible to judge the full working models in this report, the following text contains synopsis reports on some of the more noteworthy market entrants. Recently launched by Boston-based WebPark Corp., Boat-Park.com is an on-line virtual trade show, which seeks to bring together worldwide participants into its virtual trade show, which is open 24/7.