Keppel Corp might be looking to exit the offshore market, but it is not stopping the company from trying to hook offshore contracts from Petrobras worth up to SGD 8bn ($5.8bn).
The Singapore-listed company said Wednesday that it was is in advanced discussions with the Brazil oil major for the P-80 floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) contract, as well as an option for a second FPSO.
News of the potential contract wins came as Keppel Offshore & Marine (O&M) reported an interim net profit of SGD 64m reversing the net loss of SGD 44m seen in the first half of 2021.
The first six months of 2022 saw Keppel O&M secure SGD 256m of new orders, bringing its net orderbook to SGD 4.4bn as of the end of June 2022.
The company said it had also made good progress with its legacy rigs, having secured about SGD 255 million worth of bareboat charter contracts for four of its legacy jack-ups, with charter periods of three to five years.
In late June, it emerged that Keppel could be set to offload three much delayed jack-up drilling rig newbuildings after Borr Drilling, the company behind the original order, said it had signed a binding letter of intent with an unnamed buyer for the sale of the rigs.
The buyer agreed to pay a total of $320m for the rigs with the funds used to pay the delivery instalments of the three rigs under construction at Keppel FELS.
“Keppel has delivered a set of strong results in the first half of 2022 against a challenging global economic landscape,” said Keppel chief executive Loh Chin Hua.
“In an extended inflationary environment, demand for real assets with cash flow, such as those which Keppel develops, operates and manages, will continue to grow, auguring well for the group.”
Loh said when the offshore & marine transactions are completed, the new Keppel will be “very different from what we were before”.
“With the global energy transition and decarbonisation efforts, Keppel is in the right space, at the right time,” he added.
Keppel reported an overall net profit of SGD498m for the half year ended 30 June 2022, an increase of 66% over the previous year, underpinned by profitability across all segments
