Oil Service Firms News

The United States is considering an October deadline for ending exemptions to Venezuelan sanctions that allow some companies and refiners to still receive the South American producer's oil, two sources said, as Washington seeks to raise the heat on President Nicolas Maduro.U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up sanctions on Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, its key foreign partners and customers since it first imposed measures against the company in early 2019, seeking to oust the…

Offshore oil drilling and service companies, hurt by the energy industry's shift to lower-cost shale and away from deepwater projects, are dominating the year's energy bankruptcies in North America, according to law firm Haynes and Boone. There were fewer oilfield service companies seeking protection this year than last but those that did have had larger debts. Through October, 44 oilfield services companies filed for bankruptcy in the United States and Canada owing creditors $24.8 billion, compared with 72 companies and $13.48 billion for all of 2016.

Venezuela's PDVSA and its joint ventures last month shipped 638,325 barrels per day (bpd) of crude to the United States, a 30 percent increase over June due to larger sales of upgraded oil, according to Thomson Reuters trade flows data. Venezuelan crude output has declined this year to its lowest point in 27 years due to a lack of investment and payment delays to oil service firms, affecting exports to customers in key markets including the United States. Even though the volume of crude sent to the United States in July was larger than the previous month, it was 22 percent below the same month in 2016. The main U.S. receiver of Venezuelan crude last month was refiner Valero Energy, followed by PDVSA's refining unit in the United States, Citgo Petroleum.

Shipping company Toisa Ltd filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy as falling demand for the Bermuda-chartered company's oil-and-gas supply vessels left it running short of cash, according to court documents. Toisa, owned by Greek shipping magnate Gregory Callimanopulos, has a global fleet of 26 offshore oil service vessels, 13 tankers and seven bulk ships, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. The ship operator said it had more than $1 billion in debt in court documents.

Access to capital for cash-hungry Norwegian offshore shipowners is expected to tighten further as lower activity and falling profits continue in 2016, the Norwegian Shipowners' Association said in its yearly outlook report on Tuesday. Since mid-2014, the price of crude has tumbled 66 percent, leading oil firms to cut investments to preserve cash and hence rent fewer drilling rigs, supply vessels, seismic ships and other equipment used in the search for oil and gas. In 2016, only 15 percent of the firms questioned by the association consider the access to capital as good…

Access to capital for cash-hungry Norwegian offshore shipowners is expected to tighten further as lower activity and falling profits continue in 2016, the Norwegian Shipowners' Association said in its yearly outlook report on Tuesday. Since mid-2014, the price of crude has tumbled 66 percent, leading oil firms to cut investments to preserve cash and hence rent fewer drilling rigs, supply vessels, seismic ships and other equipment used in the search for oil and gas. In 2016, only 15 percent of the firms questioned by the association consider the access to capital as good, compared to 25 percent of questioned firms last year and 50 percent in 2014. One out of every third company now considers the access to capital to be very tight, against less than 10 percent last year, the report said.

Three European companies have won contracts for almost half the value of Angola's $16 billion ultra-deepwater Kaombo oil project, confirming a trend toward bigger scale and risk for the deep-sea contracting and construction sector. Saipem of Italy announced a $4 billion contract related to fitting out and supplying two converted oil tankers to become the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) part of the project. Meanwhile, Paris-listed Technip and crane-ship specialist Heerema revealed a $3.5 billion deal for subsea tubes, pipes and cables to connect the two FPSOs to the seabed two kilometres below the surface. Heerema said the contract was the biggest on record of its kind.