Page 28: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1999)

Market Reports stamina in the face of falling oil prices; utilization remains above 90 percent for the area's 46 floating rigs. Most of this staying power is attributable to the long- term nature of the region's contracts and the willingness of drilling contractors to accept the aforementioned day rate cuts.

However, the number of rigs actively drilling is much lower, only 38, placing the working rig count at 83 percent. The number of rigs under contract and/or day rates could fall in coming months with seven floating rigs completing their existing contracts by the end of June.

While the picture is bleak, the key- word today is momentum, and the off- shore industry has found some (of the positive nature) in recent months. Since mid-March, the oil price per barrel has steadily marched upward, buoyed by cuts from OPEC producing countries.

While insiders warn that the true recov- ery will come only when product demand regains a healthy growth course, it seems this is inevitable given the faster than expected economic recovery in Asia.

CDI Installs Reeled Riser In The

Gulf Of Mexico

Cal Dive International reported that it established another Gulf of Mexico first when it installed a reeled flowline/riser combination for Kerr-McGee in East

High Island block A-379 in 350 ft. (106.6 m) of water.

Bouygues Offshore Net Sales

Up 50 Percent

Bouygues Offshore S.A. announced net sales, new orders and backlog for the first quarter ended March 31,1999. Net sales for the 1999 first quarter rose 50 percent to $265.1 million, compared to $181.4 million in the 1998 first quarter period. The backlog at the end of the first quarter was the highest in

Bouygues Offshore's history, totaling $999.6 million.

PGS Expects Lower Earnings

Petroleum Geo-Services ASA said that although it expects 1999 revenues to increase above 1998 levels, the con- tinuing weakness in oilfield activities as a result of extremely low and unstable oil prices and numerous mergers in the oil industry have delayed the start-up of several contracts, in addition to the com- pletion of certain 3-D seismic data sales.

As a result, earnings for the first quarter — and potentially the first half of .1999 — will fall below last year's results, cur- rent analysts estimate.

New Drill Ship Enters Service

Drilling began of a wildcat offshore well to the west of the New Zealand province of Northland, Conoco said.

The well, Wakanui-1, was being drilled about 144 km northwest of Auckland in 4,823 ft. (1,470 m) of water by a new ultra-deepwater drilling ship, the Deep- water Frontier, on its first assignment. ©Grinnell

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BHP Reports Successful

GOM Results

The Broken Hill Proprietary Co., Ltd. (BHP), reported the results of a signifi- cant new discovery in the ultra-deep water Gulf of Mexico with the Green

Canyon (GC) 826-1 well on the "Mad

Dog" prospect, located in the Atwater

Foldbelt. BHP also has a 44 percent interest partnership with BP Amoco (56 percent) in four and one half blocks (GC 738, 739, 781, northern half of 782 and 783) that are adjacent and contiguous with the drilled unit and into which the

Mad Dog structure is believed to extend.

Maritime Reporter/Engineering News