Rig Builders 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.

Singapore state investor Temasek is working with its portfolio companies to help them become more green as advancing sustainability goals becomes the new normal, the firm's chief sustainability officer said on Thursday.Temasek, with a portfolio valued at S$381 billion ($278.81 billion) as of March, has committed more than S$2 billion this year to the decarbonization sector alone, Steve Howard told the Reuters Next conference."We want to work with those companies and help make sure that they are supported in having transition plans," Howard added.

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…

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.

A merger between two of the Singapore’s largest offshore rig builders, Keppel Offshore & Marine and Sembcorp Marine, might be on the cards, report local media quoting the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS). DBS said that with orders at a trough and expectations for only a modest recovery, a merger of Singapore's two major rigbuilders could create a global giant that is more competitive and resilient. “A merger could make sense to further streamline their operations, achieve cost synergies and eliminate competition in the medium term,” DBS said. The report analysed  the possible scenarios for rationalization of the O&M assets involving Keppel, SCI, and its listed subsidiary Sembcorp Marine (SMM). The  two companies were in similar talks back in 2001, but were unable to reach an agreement.

The Iranian Maritime Industry Knowledge Hub will be soon opened up and ready to use by public in the area of shipping and offshore industry. Reza Mohammad Alibeike, member of The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), said, "In order to promote culture and knowledge of common people and maritime activists with the maritime industry issues and related jobs, I decided to design and execute a simple, but smart and practical structure. The member of Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) emphasized that in his software maritime industry is defined and its different segments are distinct. Due to absence of a scientific and reasonable definition of maritime industry and lack of unawareness of the authorities…

Posts S$535 mln loss vs year ago profit; net order book backlog at S$10.4 billion. Singaporean rig builder Sembcorp Marine Ltd posted its first quarterly loss, hit by writedowns and project delays by its key customers, underscoring the strain caused by plunging crude oil prices. The company also warned that it expects the downtrend to last longer than previous cycles as Singapore's $10 billion rig building industry faces cancellations and a dearth of new orders. For the fourth quarter, Sembcorp posted a S$535.2 million ($383 million) attributable loss, excluding non-operating items, compared with a profit S$174 million for the same year ago period. It said fourth-quarter net profit would have been S$99 million before impairments and provisions and losses from associates and joint ventures.

After a decade-long boom, there were zero new orders globally for jack-up rigs last year on account of the current oil downturn. Singapore's largest rig builders finding it difficult to navigate safely, reports The Straits Times. With oil prices swooning, and rigs' daily rental rates having crashed to US$92,000 (S$132,000) from US$130,000 in 2014, there's a risk that 70 per cent of two Singaporean leaders - Keppel Corp and Sembcorp Marine's order book might get cancelled, especially if the Petrobras bribery scandal in Brazil deepens. Analysts at Macquarie caution that Singapore's offshore and marine sector is facing a structural decline, and that the current downturn is even worse than the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009. The other big risk comes from the duo's Brazilian yards.

This would be only the second mainboard IPO in Singapore this year. Singapore's IPO market lacklustre in recent years, but oil and gas related offerings find favour in Singapore. A major operator of maritime support vessels controlled by Malaysia's richest man is seeking up to $380 million in a Singapore IPO - a boost to the city-state's stock market which has seen just one other mainboard listing this year. The deal from PACC Offshore Services Holdings (POSH), the largest Asia-based international operator of support vessels for offshore oilfields, comes as Singapore's IPO market has struggled in recent years. Most big-ticket listings in Asia opt for Hong Kong where there is more robust demand from Chinese and international investors.

PACC Offshore Services Holdings (POSH), part of the empire of Malaysia's richest man Robert Kuok, has roped in Hwang Investment Management Berhad and Fortress Capital Asset Management as cornerstone investors for its Singapore listing, which sources close to the matter said could raise about $400 million. The two cornerstone investors would take up 85.6 million shares, according to the company's preliminary prospectus. POSH operates a fleet serving offshore oilfields in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Singapore is home to the world's two biggest rig builders, Keppel Corp Ltd and Sembcorp Marine Ltd, as well as smaller oil services companies such as Ezion Holdings Ltd. The sources declined to be identified because the information has not been made public.

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (Keppel O&M) through its subsidiaries Caspian Rigbuilders BV (an affiliated company of Keppel FELS) and Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC), has secured a contract from Caspian Drilling Company Ltd., a subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), to build a semisubmersible drilling rig, which includes owner furnished equipment, worth about $800 million. Scheduled for delivery in 4Q 2016, the rig will be built to Keppel FELS' proprietary DSSTM 38M design, which has been customised for the Caspian Sea's harsh environment condition. The DSSTM 38M is designed for a drilling depth of up to 40,000ft and operations in 1,000m water depth.

Houston, Texas - Due to increasing commercial relationship between Dubai, India and Singapore, leading classification society ABS is reorganizing its Divisional responsibilities to improve service delivery. The Middle East Region, headquartered in Dubai and responsible for the society’s activities in the area, will now fall under the ABS Pacific Division, headquartered in Singapore, rather than ABS Europe, headquartered in London. “Given the manner in which the operational, financial and trading patterns are emerging between the entire Middle East region, the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore and Malaysia…

According to a June 14 report from Bloomberg, heightened U.S. scrutiny of offshore drilling after the BP spill, the worst in the nation’s history, may spur oil companies to replace aging rigs with new platforms made in South Korea and Singapore. Rig-makers Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Keppel Corp. stand to benefit from drillers buying $300m-plus semi-submersible rigs. About 57% of current units are more than 20 years old, according to Merrill Lynch, the Bloomberg report said. (Source: Bloomberg)

MISChas proposed a $973m deal to merge its shipbuilding business with Ramunia Holdings, an oil services company. The merger would expand MISC’s plans to create a regional business building oil rigs to compete against neighbouring Singapore, which is the world’s largest producer of offshore energy platforms. The deal would be a reverse takeover that could allow MISC to list its Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering unit under the Ramunia name in hopes of copying the success of Keppel Corp and SembCorp Industries, Singapore’s biggest oil rig builders, which saw a sharp rise in their shares last year due to higher oil prices. However, the…

Sinvest ASA of Norway has, through a subsidiary of its wholly owned Singapore company Deep Drilling Invest Pte. Ltd., exercised an option with Keppel FELS Limited (KFELS) to build another KFELS Super B class jackup at $126 million on the back of rising deep gas drilling activities. Their decision came after successfully raising funds through a convertible loan to facilitate the exercise of one of the company’s construction options for deep gas drilling. In February 2004, the Skeie…

Indian firms are increasingly getting into ship building and repairing as shipbuilding orders are expected to rise significantly to meet the boom in seaborne trade and increased offshore oil exploration. The local industry is expected to expand to $20b by 2020 from close to $5b now, a report by maritime consultants i-maritime Consultancy Pvt Ltd said, which is about 1 percent by value of total global shipbuilding orders. Besides subsidies given by the Indian government to local shipbuilders, which is a big incentive, a major part of the world shipping fleet is very old and due for replacement, Chief Financial Officer Dhananjay Datar of ABG Shipyard said.

To say the Gulf of Mexico maritime business had a down year would be a major understatement. But rags-to-riches-to-rags experience of the past has resulted in a consolidated, resourceful group of companies poised to pounce on the next market upturn … which should be very soon. The business trends of consolidation and globalization that have largely defined the late 1990s have touched every level of business in the U.S., including the Gulf of Mexico maritime industry. Companies that had largely depended on "business as usual" are generally out of business today. The result: a resilient industrial base that is poised to prosper in good times and bad. "Business is bad right now, as the oilfield is our primary source of business," said Ralston P.

The only logical reason the sustained high price per barrel of oil has not already been dubbed "OIL BOOM 2000" is the fact that hindsight is 20/20. Companies that operate, build and supply vessels for the fickle oil patch have seen schizophrenic markets of days past bring industry goliaths to their knees. There remains a reserve among Gulf of Mexico area companies regarding prospects 2000 and beyond, but there is a growing feeling the business - which has largely been dismal since the end of 1997 - is set to embark on one of those notorious end runs that will fill area yards with healthy backlogs for years. The reason for the "look before you leap" attitude is also largely rooted in changing business dynamics which have effectively altered the way in which the world does business.