Subsea World News has gathered all the highlights to bring you a summarized version of the most popular articles from the previous month.
The month of July has seen companies forging alliances, industry majors announcing market-adjusting plans, new job cuts, fleet reductions and contract cancellations. Subsea 7 teamed up with OneSubsea to jointly provide subsea solutions, while with KBR it formed a new concept and FEED alliance.
Technip came out with restructuring plan which will see the French subsea major slash its workforce by 6000 and downsize its fleet to 23 vessels.
Italy’s Saipem has lost a major contract related to the pipe laying activities under the Black Sea, which resulted in backlog reduction of approximately €1.2 billion.
In addition, Singapore’s Ezra Holdings is said to be looking at potential sale and leaseback deal of its $625 million subsea construction vessel Lewek Constellation which would unlock about US$200 million of equity.
For the month of July, our 10 most-read articles were:
Subsea 7 and OneSubsea have created an alliance which will see both companies jointly design, develop and deliver integrated subsea development solutions through the combination of subsurface expertise, SPS, subsea processing systems, SURF and life-of-field services.Saipem has released an animation of future addition to its fleet, the offshore subsea construction vessel Normand Maximus. With Normand Maximus. The Italian contractor aims to combine SURF installation with field development activities in ultra-deep water.
French engineering giant, Technip, has informed that the company will accelerate its cost reduction and efficiency efforts worldwide through a restructuring plan in response to the downturn in the oil and gas market. The Group will reduce its global workforce by approx. 6,000.Russian gas giant Gazprom, has through its South Stream Transport BV, informed Saipem to terminate the contract for the construction of the first line of the offshore section of the pipeline, signed in the framework of the project South Stream in 2014.
A Ship, carrying livestock from Somalia to United Arab Emirates, sank off the coast of Gulf of Aden losing more than 3000 animals. The carrier,reportedly, had 31 people onboard, out of which 29 were rescued, and 2 people were reported missing at that time.Worker was injured on Technip vessel, the North Sea Atlantic. Following the treatment on board, the injured crewman was transferred to Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick by helicopter for further treatment and later transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Ezra might be looking for a potential sale & leaseback deal for its subsea construction vessel, Lewek Constellation, according to UOB Kay Hian report. This could unlock about $200 million of equity and the repayment of some US$400 million debt relating to the vessel.BNP Paribas has downgraded the French engineering giant from outperform to neutral as the company announced headcount reduction of some 6000, fleet downsizing to 23 vessels, and also that majority of the one-off costs will be included in Q2 2015.
In Q2 presentation, Luis Araujo, CEO of Aker Solutions, pointed out tougher commercial discussions and increasing pressure on prices and that it would appear that “some costumers are holding back projects in anticipation of further downward pressure.”Subsea 7 has formed an alliance with Houston-based KBR, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Granherne, to collaborate in the delivery of Concept and Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) services to the global offshore oil and gas industry.
