New Global Subsea Provider Launched

Subsea 7, the new company formed as a result of the combination of Halliburton Subsea, a business unit of Halliburton's Energy Services Group, and the subsea activities of DSND Subsea ASA (OSE:SFJ), officially started trading. The company already has a worldwide order book in excess of $800 million, firmly establishing it as a global service provider for subsea engineering and construction, and is poised to win additional business from projects it is currently bidding. The company was formed by the two parties contributing all tangible assets associated with their subsea businesses as well as leases, on-going contracts and intellectual property. It will have offshore operations supported out of the UK, Norway, Singapore, Brazil, United States and the Caspian. John Smith, chief executive of Subsea 7, said: "There is an excellent strategic fit between the two businesses both technically and geographically. As a result, Subsea 7 is well positioned to service both the traditional and deepwater growth markets. The combined company will be stronger than the sum of the two individual parts. Halliburton and DSND both have a 50 percent shareholding in the newly formed organization. Subsea 7 has a fleet of 113 remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), three pipeline construction yards and 23 modern, high specification dynamically positioned ships capable of deepwater reeled and flexible pipelay, deepwater subsea construction and saturation diving and survey. The combined staff of 4,000 people will include 500 professionally qualified engineers strongly focused on subsea field development and robotic intervention and the senior management team will consist of best representation from both parties. Smith continued, "Fifty percent of the 1,900 subsea wells world-wide are located in the North Sea with future growth lying in deepwater provinces such as the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Brazil and the Asia Pacific region. Subsea 7 is well positioned to support these growth markets."