Kvaerner to Pay First Dividend Since 2015
Oil platform builder Kvaerner on Tuesday unexpectedly proposed its first dividend since 2015 and said it may make another such payment later this year, sending its shares soaring.The company said it expected to compete for contracts worth 30-50 billion Norwegian crowns ($3.5-5.7 billion) over the next five years, with larger deals likely in 2020 and 2021.Despite lower core earnings in the fourth quarter…
Top Shallow Water Driller Raises $225 Mln in Oslo IPO
Shelf Drilling, a Dubai-based contractor for shallow water rigs, raised about $225 million by issuing new shares priced at 65.35 Norwegian crowns ($8.09) per share, the company said on Friday, the latest drilling firm to list in Oslo to raise capital.Its initial public offering comes four years after the company scrapped plans to list…
Schlumberger, Subsea 7 Mull Oil Services JV
Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services firm, and smaller peer Subsea 7 said on Friday they were entering exclusive talks to form a joint venture to deliver subsea installations and services for oilfields. The news lifted Subsea 7 shares on hopes the talks could be the first step towards a full takeover, in a sector that…
Shares in Norway's Seismic Survey Companies Rise After Results
Seismic surveyor group TGS reported stronger than expected third quarter results on Friday and rival PGS struck a new loan deal with its banks, giving a boost to their shares. Seismic surveyors, which scan the rock below the oceans for oil and gas deposits, have had to reduce costs as oil and gas companies have cut back on exploration to cope with low oil prices.
Bloated Market Gets More Crude From Sea Storage
Oil market recovery has flattened contango; 5 million barrels sold from sea storage in past week. Physical oil is coming under pressure as trade houses unwind a profitable storage play after several months that saw them holding millions of barrels on tankers at sea. A drop in the volume of crude stored for speculative profit is putting more supply into an already saturated market…
Homeless Atlantic Oil Cargoes Deepen Glut
Millions of stranded barrels underscore glut; elevated freight rates complicate search for buyers. A shadowy build up of oil has intensified in the Atlantic Basin with homeless cargoes of crude turning into unintentional floating storage - another sign the global surplus has some way to go before clearing. Off the coast of West Africa and in the waters of the North Sea…
Subsea 7 Axes Dividend, Sees Decline in 2015
Shares down 2.6 percent. Oil services company Subsea 7 swung to a surprise fourth-quarter operating loss and has suspended dividend payments because of an expected decline in sales and earnings margins in difficult market conditions this year. The Oslo-listed business, which focuses on the North Sea, Brazil and West Africa, on Wednesday posted a $1.1 billion fourth-quarter operating loss, hit by impairments.
Traders Book Oil Tankers to Store 25m Barrels at Sea
Some of the world's biggest oil traders have booked supertankers to store at least 25 million barrels at sea in recent days, seeking to take advantage of the crash in crude prices and make a profit down the line. Floating storage levels are expected to increase further in coming weeks as trading companies adopt a strategy that was…
Seismic Firm TGS Expects Lower 2015 Revenues
Q4 revenues of $298 million beats $246 million forecast. Norwegian seismic explorer TGS posted higher-than-expected fourth-quarter revenues on Tuesday but warned that tumbling oil prices would lower sales this year as energy companies curb spending. The "magnitude and speed of the decline, combined with an already slowing E&P spend environment…
Rocksource Soars on Arctic Securities Bid
Norwegian brokerage Arctic Securities has been mandated by a financial investor to buy at least 20 percent of oil and gas explorer Rocksource at an 80 percent premium, Arctic said on Monday, sending the stock sharply higher. Arctic said it plans to buy 19,674,300 shares at 6.00 crowns apiece, about 80 percent above the stock's 3.34 trading price before it was halted pending the brokerage's announcement.
Unnamed Investor Eyes Buying Up to 5% of EMGS
An unnamed investor is considering buying up to 5 percent, or 10 million shares, in Norwegian seismic surveyor EMGS at a price of 4.10 crowns per share, Oslo-based brokerage Arctic Securities said on Wednesday. The share price close at 3.70 crowns for the day. The offer will end at 2000 GMT on Wednesday, Arctic added. EMGS maps out the seabed for oil and gas companies on behalf of oil companies.
Mideast Crude Tanker Rates Near 3-month Low
Crude oil tanker earnings on the major Middle East route fell to their lowest in nearly three months as a slowdown in business in recent days battered rate sentiment. The world's benchmark VLCC export route from the Middle East Gulf (MEG) to Japan <DFRT-ME-JAP> on Monday reached W37.93 in the worldscale measure of freight rates, or $8,142 a day when translated into average earnings - its lowest since June 23.
Long Range Product Tanker Rates Keep Gains
Long-range clean tanker rates remained firm this week although a likely slowdown in bookings was expected to cap the pace of gains in coming days. Larger Long-Range 2 or LR2, 75,000 tonne shipments on the Middle East Gulf to Japan route were at W114.72 or $20,445 a day on Thursday, the latest Baltic Exchange data showed. That compared with W114.72 or $20…
Havyard Group – Launch Of IPO & Prospectus Publication
Havyard Group ASA submitted an updated application for listing of its shares on Oslo Børs, alternatively Oslo Axess, on 6 June 2014. It is expected that the stock exchange will consider the application in a meeting of its board of directors on 18 June 2014. Subject to approval of the application and compliance with the listing criteria, the first day of trading is expected to be 26 June 2014.
Marathon Quits Norway in $2.1 bln Deal
Marathon fails to sell smaller UK business; deal worth $2.7 bln including debt. Det norske shares rise as much as 9 pct. Marathon Oil Corp is to sell its Norwegian business for $2.1 billion to oil exploration group Det norske, part of plans to shed assets in Norway and Britain to free up cash for the U.S. firm's shale activities in the United States.
Ship Glut Burdens LNG Tanker Market, Slashes Profits
Deliveries of new gas tankers have created a glut that is threatening to tip some operators into losses, just as other shipping markets emerge from their worst downturn in decades. The liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker market was until recently the only bright spot in an otherwise depressed freight industry. A global surge in the demand for gas…
