Rigs report: Noble-Maersk Drilling merger's US$50M 'synergies'; Saipem floats asset sales

Italian oilfield services firm Saipem is looking to raise about €750M (US$794M) from the partial sale of assets in its drilling business, in particular shallow-water vessels. The group has faced financial trouble of late. A profit warning in January 2022 sent shares tumbling 30% and the company launched a €2Bn (US$2.1Bn) capital raise to help fund a turnaround in its fortunes, and later divested its onshore drilling business, with UK-based KCA Deutag closing its acquisition of the Kuwaiti arm of Saipem’s onshore drilling assets February 2023.

Late on Monday, the group said it had raised its earnings expectations for 2023 and the next few years after beating 2022 targets. At the company’s 2022 earnings call 28 February, chief executive Alessandro Puliti said Saipem expects to gradually restart work on the TotalEnergies-led Mozambique LNG project. The proposed LNG project is located in Mozambique’s troubled Cabo Delgado province which has seen a growing Islamist insurgency for years now. 

In February, Total tasked Jean-Christophe Rufin, an experienced professional in humanitarian action and conflict zones with “an independent mission to assess the humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado province” in the hopes of restarting the stalled US$20Bn project.

Saipem is chartering seventh-generation drillship Deep Value Driller. The vessel is the sole asset of an Oslo-listed company with the same name. The contract covers an estimated firm period of approximately three years with a one-year extension. At an estimated day rate of about US$146,000, the contract adds approximately US$160M of firm revenue backlog to the Deep Value Driller Group.  

Saipem is also exploring the potential use of biofuels on its drillships, particularly those in the Mediterranean Sea. And to that end has inked a memorandum of understanding with Eni Sustainable Mobility. 

Eni has produced biofuels since 2014, following the conversion of the Venice and Gela refineries into biorefineries. Saipem estimates biofuel use will allow it to potentially reduce emissions by around 550,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Finally, Shipbroker Simpson Spence Young (SSY) has acquired offshore specialist Westshore Shipbrokers. The acquisition of the Norwegian broker is part of SSY’s wider strategy to enter into the global offshore sector and complement its existing shipbroking services. SSY has also appointed Roar Adland as global head of research, effective from May 2023. Mr Adland has 20 years of professional experience, gaining a PhD from MIT and has held senior positions at the Norwegian School of Economics and shipbroker Clarksons.

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