Olsen Energy News

Norwegian oil and gas rig operator Dolphin Drilling filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, leading creditors to seize its key assets in a restructuring that will see the company maintain operations.Formerly known as Fred. Olsen Energy, Dolphin Drilling ASA had debt of just over $1 billion at the end of 2018 and a net loss for the year of almost $300 million, its annual report shows.Once a dominant supplier of drilling rigs to oil and gas firms exploring the North Sea, Dolphin was…

Norwegian drillship and rig operator Fred. Olsen Energy, owner of the yard that built the RMS Titanic, is considering a debt and equity restructuring that would almost wipe out the value of its current shares, the company said.With debt and liabilities of more than $840 million at the end of June, Fred. Olsen last month stopped paying its creditors to preserve liquidity, making it the latest victim of a slow recovery in the oil and gas exploration sector.The owner of seven drillships and rigs, as well as Belfast's Harland & Wolff yard, has now received indicative, non-binding proposals from equity investors valuing its current shares and bonds at just $10 million…

Jonathan Guest has been tapped to succeed Robert J Cooper as chief executive officer of Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff Group PLC and Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries Limited.Guest, the company’s current director of business development and improvement, will step into the chief executive role on May 1 to replace Cooper who is retiring after more than four decades with the company.Guest has worked for 23 years as a professional engineer and executive director in a range of industries including marine…

Dolphin Drilling AS, a subsidiary of Fred. Olsen Energy ASA, has extended contract with Statoil for Bideford Dolphin. "We have entered into a one well contract extension, including one optional well, with Statoil for use of the semi-submersible drilling rig Bideford Dolphin for operation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, with commencement latest 31 July 2017," said a statement from the company.   The one-well program is estimated to take 50 days and estimated contract value is approximately USD 8.6 million.

Rig firm Fred. Olsen Energy and South Korean yard Hyundai Heavy Industries settle dispute over construction of semi-submersible rig Bollsta Dolphin. Shares in Fred. Olsen Energy up 17 percent at 0736 GMT on the news, after rising 37 percent at the opening of the Oslo bourse. Ownership of platform will be retained by Hyundai and arbitration proceedings associated with disputes have been terminated by consent. Fred. Olsen Energy's subsidiary firm Bollsta Dolphin will receive about $176.4 million from Hyundai of first installment paid by Bollsta. Reporting by Gwladys Fouche

Norwegian offshore oil rig operator Fred. Olsen Energy said that recent market activity is indicating lower rig rates and shorter term contracts, and this market softness could last into 2015. "The most recent market fixtures are indicating some softening of rates and an acceptance of shorter term contracts," it said in it annual report on Wednesday. "It is expected that these market conditions will continue through 2014 and possibly into 2015." "The UK and Norwegian markets are expected to experience a more limited impact of the recent slowdown, partly because demand is relatively robust but also because a large proportion of the fleet is contracted on a multi-year basis," it added.   Reporting by Balazs Koranyi

Rig to cost $195 mln to upgrade vs earlier $125 mln; upgrade to be completed in June vs earlier view April. Firm's down 5.6 percent. Norwegian rig firm Fred. Olsen Energy said on Tuesday that an upgrade on one of its most important rigs would be more expensive and would take longer than earlier thought, sending its shares sharply lower. The Blackford Dolphin rig would cost $195 million to undergo "additional structural upgrades", which would be completed in June. In February the firm said the upgrade, part of a class renewal survey, would cost $125 million and would be completed in April. The rig is one of the firm's two rigs that can drill in deep waters of up to 7,000 feet (2,130 metres), currently in high demand from oil and gas firms. Fred.

Nor-Shipping 2013 'Agenda Offshore' hear the Director General of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association pronounce the marriage of maritime and offshore oil and gas industries interests a success. The offshore industry is “a legitimate child” of the marriage between oil and gas as well as maritime companies. “It is maybe a relationship driven more by cooperation and innovation than by love or passion – a bit of an arranged marriage maybe – but today the offspring of this relationship are the specialized vessels…

Hyundai Heavy, as a turnkey contractor, will undertake all works including engineering, procurement and commissioning for the USD 700 million project. The contract also includes an option exercisable by the owner to order an additional same class drilling rig. The rig will be built at Hyundai Heavy’s Gunsan Shipyard. Equipped with a 1,650 ton Goliath Crane and the world’s largest 1.3 million DWT dry dock, the Gunsan Shipyard has delivered 26 ships since its establishment in 2010.

Offshore wind-power producers from Dong Energy A/S to RWE AG are building custom ships at record rates to reduce the cost of the technology which is  three times as pricey as electricity from coal plants. As many as 20 vessels, some with movable legs which reach the seafloor, will come onto the market in the next few years, reducing chartering costs of as much as 200,000 euros ($261,000) a day, said Marc Seidel, an offshore engineer at Suzlon Energy Ltd., which supplies turbines to Germany’s RWE. A lack of specialized installation ships has forced companies to hire barges designed for oil exploration, holding up work at projects such as EON AG’s Robin Rigg wind farm off Scotland’s western coast.

“With the diagnostics and remote access that is being built into our rigs now, it is really important that software integrity is flawless,” said CEO Ivar Brandvold of Fred. Olsen Energy ASA. “Our analysis indicates that applying the ISDS class notation can easily save USD 6-20 million by avoiding the delays caused by the need to re-work software,” said Rolf Benjamin Johansen, the director of operations at software integration for DNV maritime and energy. “In fact, this range is conservative as it does not include avoided costs. Being on schedule avoids propagating supply-chain costs and loss of brand reputation. The ISDS notation focuses on how to set up and run a project and how to develop quality assurance processes that will last throughout the vessel’s lifetime.

Statoil has awarded a contract to Dolphin AS and a letter of intent to Seadrill for two rigs which will operate on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The Bideford Dolphin rig has won a three-year contract with start-up from 27 January 2011. The contract is worth about $421m. Statoil has an option to extend the contract from three to four years by 1 November 2010. The value of the contract will then increase to about $553m. Dolphin AS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fred Olsen Energy ASA. Seadrill’s West Epsilon rig has been awarded a letter of intent for a four-year contract to take effect on 29 December 2010. This contract is worth about $394m. The agreement is conditional on partner approval. Statoil can extend the contract period to five or six years before 1 October 2010.

The original contract signed on February 26, 2004 with Blackford Dolphin Pte Ltd (Owner), a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Energy ASA, for work to be carried on the Blackford Dolphin was $177m. The expected delivery date was in June 2007. On July 20, 2007, an addendum was agreed upon, which took into account changes up to that point in time by the Owner. The contract value was increased to $239.5m with the delivery date revised to February 2008. Since the addendum, there have been further revisions, including changes to the design of the rig, by the Owner. This has resulted in variation orders and a delay in the completion of the rig. While some variation orders were agreed upon and paid for by the Owner, outstanding and unresolved variation orders remain.

Fred. Olsen Energy ASA has, via its subsidiary, Dolphin Drilling Ltd, received notification of a contract extension from Agip Gas BV for the semi-submersible drilling rig Bredford Dolphin. The rig has been operating offshore Libya since March 2003. The extended contract is on the same terms and conditions as the current contract and includes a rig rate of approximately $64,000 per day. The extension period covers the time to drill one additional well and test and complete five sub sea wells and is expected to keep the rig employed towards the end of second quarter 2004.

Harland & Wolff's (H&W) existence was extended last week as it won a 300 million pound ($458 million) contract to build four passenger ferries. The order from Bahamas-based Seamasters International Inc. includes an option for two additional ships. "This is very good news for us. If the full six vessels are ordered, we're looking at work until 2004," spokesman Peter Harbinson said. The order came just a day after Harland & Wolff workers accepted a three-year pay deal, a deal which was equally crucial in ensuring the company's near-term future. Harbinson estimated the order for the RoRo ferries would secure around 1,000 of the 1,300 core jobs at the shipyard.

Harland & Wolff's (H&W) existence was extended last week as it won a 300 million pound ($458 million) contract to build four passenger ferries. The order from Bahamas-based Seamasters International Inc. includes an option for two additional ships. If the full order is taken, the six ships should provide work for the yard through 2004. The order came just a day after Harland & Wolff workers accepted a three-year pay deal, a deal which was equally crucial in ensuring the company's near-term future. Harbinson estimated the order for the RoRo ferries would secure around 1,000 of the 1,300 core jobs at the shipyard. The yard, whose giant yellow cranes dubbed "Samson and Goliath" dominate the Belfast skyline, is still a mainstay of the British-ruled province's economy.

Workers at Harland and Wolff shipbuilders narrowly accepted a pay offer that could throw a lifeline to the yard that built the Titanic, their union said. The margin was slim at 424 to 389 to support what management said were final proposals that would give skilled employees about $475 a week. That wage would be guaranteed until at least January 2003 and include a further bonus opportunity. The Northern Ireland yard, majority-owned by Norway's Fred Olsen Energy, could be poised to win a $613 million order for four Norwegian ferries that may help it avoid closing its gates for good. "According to the negotiations we have been having with the company, there is an order now available on the basis that we were prepared to accept these proposals," Joe Bowers of the MSF union said.

Two Norwegian oilfields were shut Wednesday amid fears that a stricken exploration rig might start dragging its anchors in high seas and threaten to crash into them. The North Sea Snorre and Vigdis fields, with a combined output of 260,000 bpd, closed after three of the rig's eight anchors broke free of the seabed in a storm which produced 55 ft. waves. About two-thirds of the rig workers were evacuated via helicopter, and no injuries were reported. According to the company, it is still too early to indicate what the Bideford Dolphin incident would cost. The rig, which was recently upgraded at Harland and Wolff, is owned by Fred Olsen Energy and is on lease to Hydro for oil exploration drilling.

Two Norwegian oilfields were shut Wednesday amid fears that a stricken exploration rig might start dragging its anchors in high seas and threaten to crash into them. The North Sea Snorre and Vigdis fields, with a combined output of 260,000 bpd, closed after three of the rig's eight anchors broke free of the seabed in a storm which produced 55 ft. waves. About two-thirds of the rig workers were evacuated via helicopter, and no injuries were reported. According to the company, it is still too early to indicate what the Bideford Dolphin incident would cost. The rig, which was recently upgraded at Harland and Wolff, is owned by Fred Olsen Energy and is on lease to Hydro for oil exploration drilling.

Harland and Wolff will await the outcome of arbitration next week with a major customer before deciding the fate of the Belfast shipyard. Harland and Wolff's owners, Norwegian offshore group Fred Olsen Energy, said last week the yard was at risk because of a dispute over a final 23 million pound ($33.78 million) payment for a deepwater drill ship. Talks with U.S. rig owner Global Marine, which ordered the drillship, are scheduled to take place in London for three days beginning September 5. On Tuesday, Harland and Wolff said it would do all it could to secure the shipyard's future. "They (management and board) have decided however that no decision can be taken regarding the yard's future prior to the arbitration hearings," the company said in a statement.

Norwegian offshore group Fred Olsen Energy said it aimed to resolve next week the fate of its Northern Irish Harland shipyard, famed for building the ill-fated Titanic. It said in a statement that its board of directors had met on Thursday to address the "present difficult situation at Harland and Wolff" and that "alternatives were being considered with a view to agree on a way forward during next week". It said the yard's future was at risk due to a refusal by American rig owner, Global Marine, to pay a final delivery installment of $34.09 million on completion of the Glomar Jack Ryan deepwater drillship.

The Shipping Index at the Oslo Stock Exchange performed well in the quite summer month of July, rising 2.7 percent, and thus again lifting the maritime sector of shipping, offshore and cruise shares above the levels of year-end 1999. Within the sector, 29 shares rose during the month, while only 12 decreased in market value. Among the offshore stocks, Nortrans Offshore (NOL) were again strong, as in May, after a 10 percent fall in June. With a rise of 23 percent it ended as the month's winner. Also Havila Supply (HAV) rebounded strongly from a rather poor June performance, while Northern Offshore (NOF) only continued its upward trend.

Cammell Laird Holdings, which has been a strong shipbuilding and repair success story for several years, announced that it was to build two cruise ships, breathing further life into the struggling U.K. shipbuilding industry. Cammell Laird, however, said the contract with Luxus (UK) Ltd. for two 28,000-ton ships was conditional on the go-ahead from the UK government and Shipbuilding Intervention Funding, as well as ship mortgage finance guarantees to Luxus's bankers. The deal could be worth a reported $497.9 million, with the work expected to be shared between Merseyside in the northwest, Teeside and Tyneside in the northeast and Gosport on the south coast. Cammell Laird lost out last month on orders for six army roll-on roll-off transport ships.