BrasFELS yard in demand.

Nomura's Report on Kep Corp
8 Jul 10

Petrobras tender parties keen to use BrasFELS yard.


Keppel’s BrasFELS yard has been cited in three out of five contract tenders in a recent Petrobras contract award as the choice yard to build offshore rigs to meet the Brazilian oil major’s demand for homebuilt offshore fleet. There were three bids to build a total of four drillships and two semi-submersible rigs at Keppel’s BrasFELS yard submitted by both Brazilian and overseas offshore owner/operators.

These rigs will eventually be chartered to Petrobras by these rig operators/owner companies, which will own the rigs, according to current tender guidelines.


Tender participants bet on BrasFELS yard


Keppel’s BrasFELS offshore shipyard remained in demand in the second round of contract tenders for Petrobras’ 28 offshore rigs-building programme, underlining our view that the yard will secure a good share of Petrobras’ new contracts given its strong track record with Petrobras and building experience in Brazil.

There were three bids to build a total of four drillships and two semi-submersible rigs at Keppel's BrasFELS yard by both Brazilian and overseas offshore owner/operators.

These rigs will be chartered to Petrobras by these rig operators/owner companies that will own the rigs.

Keppel had also in the earlier first round submitted tenders to build two semi-submersibles and seven drillships, which will be owned by Petrobras.

Petrobras received bids from five companies offering to supply chartered deepwater rigs under this second part of its domestic offshore rig-building programme:

(1) Quieroz Galvao Oleo E Gas to build two drillships at Keppel’s BrasFELS yard;

(2) Petroserv to build two drillships at Keppel’s BrasFELS yard;

(3) Sau Paulo-based Etesco bid to build two drillships at a new yard to be built by Brazil’s OSX group, and to build two semi-submersibles at Keppel’s BrasFELS yard;

(4) Saipem’s tender offer to build four drillships at a proposed Estaleiro Ilha (EISA) yard in the Alagoas state;

(5) Norway’s Odfjell bid to build two drillships at another new shipyard proposed by Galvao Engenharia-Alusa.

Also, three parties have been disqualified on technical grounds in the first round of the 28-rig tender. These include South Korea’s STX and Brazilian shipyard Engevix from the 7 drillships tender, and Estaleiro Ilha (EISA) from the bidding for two semisubmersible units.

We believe Petrobras is keen to go ahead with the 28-rig tender with results likely to be announced before end-2010. The Brazilian state-owned oil group continues to draw attention in wake of its upwardly revised future developmental plans and decision to go ahead with its plans despite the recent deepwater disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

While it has delayed its target date to sell shares from the end-July to September, the NOC appears to have no plans to hold back its deepwater projects. Indeed, the Brazilian senate’s approval of an oil-backed rights issue for Petrobras could only help hasten the process.