Keppel Corp 01 (May 08 - Dec 14)

[winston]

Not vested.

KEPPEL CORP - Keppel Corp, the world's biggest oil rig builder, said late on Monday it has won a $1 billion contract with a joint venture partner to build and operate a rig platform in Brazillian waters.

The contract is Keppel's largest rig deal in over two years and will bolster the firm's order book, which has been falling over the past year and stood at $5.6 billion at end-December

Source: Reuters

[Aspellian]

FPSOs slated for strong rebound
The market for floating production, storage and offloading units is on track for a strong rebound as oil and gas operators set out to sanction more projects on the back of recovering oil prices, according to a senior analyst with ODS-Petrodata.

Tan Hwee Hwee 22 February 2010 02:22 GMT

At least 15 contracts are likely to be awarded this year out of over 30 international projects pencilled in for the pipeline, ODS-Petrodata's Kelvin Sam said, drawing on data captured on ODS-Petrodata's floating production database, FPSBase.

These projects are mostly driven by large, well-funded international oil companies or national oil companies, suggesting they are less likely to be delayed or cancelled, Sam said.

The first two months of 2010 alone saw the award of four contracts, Italian Eni's Goliat and Kitan FPSOs off Norway and Timor Leste, Petrobras' pilot project at the Guara discovery and OGX's planned deployment of Nexus 1 FPSO both off Brazil.

The marked recovery is a continuation of a pick-up in activity since the fourth quarter of last year, which saw the award of seven contracts, Sam said.

Only two contracts were awarded in the first nine months of 2009 and none at all in the last three months of 2008, according to ODS-Petrodata's FPSBase.

Sam expects oil prices now ranging in the $70s to support a continued recovery although competition among contractors will remain stiff.

The slowdown in new contract awards since late 2008 have seen idle FPSOs reaching a record high of 10 units currently.

Contractors may seek to redeploy their idle vessels and would remain under pressure to bid competitively to replenish their order books.

The downturn in late 2008, however, is likely to speed up project executions, according to Sam.

Equipment suppliers had an opportunity to clear the order backlogs accumulated during the earlier upswing and this implies shorter lead time for equipment deliveries for new FPSO projects, potentially shortening the project cycles by two to three months.

Project costs, however, will increase by 8% year-on-year in 2010, but are not expected to return to the peak of 2006 to 2007 until 2013 and beyond, Sam said.

The cost increment may not necessarily translate to higher contract values.

Contractors may seek to redeploy their idle vessels and would remain under pressure to bid competitively to replenish their order books, he added.

Oil and gas operators have held back on sanctioning new field developments including FPSO projects after the double whammy of a drastic fall in commodity prices and global financial crisis since the second half of 2008.

Analysts have projected operators and yards may remain major sources for FPSO project financing, with majority of the contractors continue to grapple with cash flow issues.

Published: 22 February 2010 02:22 GMT | Last updated: 22 February 2010 12:37 GMT
Upstreamonline

[Musicwhiz]

Thanks Aspellian,

Hope this news can directly benefit MTQ's Oilfield Engineering business as well, and generate demand for their services in Bahrain where they are setting up a new facility.....

[millionairemind]

Finally, a breakout from 6months of consolidation on high vol.

[winston]

KEPPEL CORP - Singapore's Keppel Corp , the world's largest builder of offshore oil rigs, will jointly build and operate a shipbuilding and repair yard in Azerbaijan.

Keppel, which has a 10-percent share in the venture, will operate the yard to make tankers and support vessels and help renew Azerbaijan national oil company SOCAR's fleet.

Source: Reuters

[Aspellian]

Brazil pre-salt output to peak early
Brazil's pre-salt oil output could shoot up in 2013 and 2014 before levelling off to match production in other on- and offshore areas, Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo said.

News wires 18 March 2010 20:55 GMT

Output from the pre-salt play will increase slowly over the next two years before jumping significantly in 2013 and 2014, Reuters quoted Bernardo saying in an interview broadcast on state television.

He did not provide estimates or give the source of his projections.

Bernado said: "Maybe in 2015 output at the pre-salt region will be as significant as production at our current sources of crude.”

He added that, in 2015, pre-salt production could even surpass the country’s other producing plays.

State-controlled Petrobras has forecast pre-salt production could match that of other regions by 2020, Reuters added. Petrobras has been reviewing its $174 billion, five-year investment plan.
Capital expenditure to develop the pre-salt region are massive, forcing Petrobras to borrow from state agencies in China and Brazil, as well as from investors in the bond and loan markets.

Published: 18 March 2010 20:55 GMT | Last updated: 19 March 2010 08:12 GMT

[millionairemind]

March 22, 2010, 2.57 pm (Singapore time)

Keppel gets Aramco's nod to proceed with rig building

By ANGELA TAN

SINGAPORE - Keppel Corporation Limited said its subsidiary, Keppel FELS Limited, has received notice from Aramco Overseas Company BV, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, to proceed with construction of the jackup.

The contract with Aramco Overseas Company BV is not expected to have any material impact on the net tangible assets or the earnings per share of Keppel Corporation Limited for the current financial year

[BlackCat]

Since its breakout, after pulling back on low vol for a few days, yesterday it bounced off a trendline at $8.92 :

kc100323.jpg

... which is also a significant previous low from Mar 08 (red circle):

kc2.jpg

If it can break previous high of 9.26, next potential resistance may be at 9.67 (extreme candlesticks - blue circles). Or maybe higher. Support would be at 8.92.

I guess this would be called a 'swing trade' (?)....The 'bounce' yesterday is probably not significant enough to count as a Previous Low (i.e.: cut loss point) in a longer term timeframe.

[LenaHuat]

It's going to build a offshore wind farm in the German zone of the North Sea. Pretty interesting development.

[Aspellian]

Keppel unit bags first newbuild $118m contract for German offshore wind farm
Keppel Verolme BV (Keppel Verolme) and consortium partner AREVA Energietechnik GmbH, a German unit of French energy company AREVA, have secured a EUR 62 million ($117.6 million) contract from Wetfeet Offshore Windenergy GmbH (Wetfeet Offshore) to build a Mobile Offshore Application Barge (MOAB) for a new offshore wind farm in the German Exclusive Economic Zone in the North Sea.

This self-erecting floating platform will be deployed at the Global Tech I Wind Farm that is being built and operated by Wetfeet Offshore. Utilising the patent-pending solution of AREVA Offshore Platform, the MOAB will host the transformers and high voltage switchgears to collect and convert electricity generated by the wind turbines for delivery to Germany’s national power grid. It is also equipped with critical control systems to serve as a backup power supply for the wind farm in case of emergencies. This innovative and customised solution combines the well-proven and state-of-the-art technologies from the oil & gas and electro-technical businesses.

The Global Tech I wind farm will be located about 110km northwest of Cuxhaven (Germany) in the German Exclusive Economic Zone in the North Sea consisting of 80 5-Megawatt (MW) class wind turbines. When fully operational in 2013, this wind farm will be capable to generate some 1.4 billion kilowatthours (kWh) of electrical energy annually, supplying one million people with clean energy. It is also expected to help cut some 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

MOAB will provide permanent accommodation for up to 32 personnel operating the wind farm. By serving both energy transmission and wind farm maintenance functions, MOAB helps to enhance the operational reliability and efficiency of Global Tech I, contributing overall to a greener environment.