By Mikael Holter (Bloomberg) -- Norway’s biggest bank is done comparing: The downturn in the country’s offshore services market has no precedent. “No one has seen a worse offshore market than what we’re going through now,” Kristin Holth, head of shipping, offshore and logistics at DNB ASA, said in an interview at the Nor-Shipping conference outside Oslo on Tuesday. “It … [Read more...]
Mothballed Ships in Southeast Asia Show Pain Inflicted by Oil Slump
By Aradhana Aravindan and Keith Wallis SINGAPORE, May 31 (Reuters) - Not everyone in shipping is bemoaning the industry's worst crisis in living memory: a cluster of companies that help preserve equipment and provide security for vessels parked around southeast Asia are busier than they have been for years. A popular lay-up anchorage near Indonesia's Batam island, a short … [Read more...]
Maersk Oil to Cut 40 Staff Amid Slumping Oil Price
COPENHAGEN, May 9 (Reuters) - Denmark's Maersk Oil will cut 40 jobs in Copenhagen, Aberdeen and Stavanger due to the low oil price, it said on Monday. Maersk Oil, a unit of conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk , said despite significant cost cuts in the past 18 months, the oil price in the first quarter of 2016 continued to put pressure on earnings and led to a small loss in the … [Read more...]
Samsung Heavy Industries Loses $4.6 Billion Shell Order
By Kyunghee Park (Bloomberg) -- Samsung Heavy Industries Co., the world’s third-largest shipbuilder, said an order to build three floating liquefied natural gas production facilities was canceled after the energy development project was scrapped amid a plunge in oil prices. The contract, valued at 5.27 trillion won ($4.6 billion), from Royal Dutch Shell Plc was voided … [Read more...]
Norwegian Rainmaker Predicts Oil Crash is Near Bottom
By Jonas Cho Walsgard (Bloomberg) -- Shipping is about to lead a recovery in global offshore markets that have been battered by plunging oil prices, according to one of Norway’s biggest dealmakers over the past three decades. Mads Syversen, the chief executive officer at Oslo-based investment bank Arctic Securities, said he’s seeing the first signs of a pick up in … [Read more...]
Houston-Based Oil Explorer Energy XXI Files for Bankruptcy After $5 Billion Expansion
By Tiffany Kary and Joe Carroll (Bloomberg) -- Energy XXI Ltd. filed for bankruptcy protection after spending $5 billion on acquisitions in the years leading up to the crude slump. The oil and gas explorer sought Chapter 11 protection in Houston Thursday, listing $1.8 billion in assets and $3.6 billion in debt and saying it has reached a restructuring agreement with … [Read more...]
Marine Industry Looks to Cruise Ships, Wind Farms to Weather Oil Slump
By Aradhana Aravindan and Keith Wallis SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) - Marine and offshore engineering companies are turning to cruise ships, fishing vessels or even sea-based wind farms to keep their earnings afloat as weak oil prices slash new spending by big energy companies. Many companies that have focused on building or chartering vessels to support offshore … [Read more...]