Bourbon SA CEO, Christian Lefevre, has said that he expects improved demand and higher rates for vessels this year, spurred by the development of offshore projects in West Africa and Asia
Lefevre told Bloomberg that he plans to return the Paris-based company, which is the owner of the biggest fleet of supply and crew ships for the oil industry, to profit this year while increasing the fleet by about a third by 2015. Bourbon reinforced its building programme last year, despite overcapacity in the global market, anticipating that explorers would choose more modern vessels.
“If oil prices remain high enough for investment, we will see growth in 2012 and 2013,” Lefevre said. “We could see vessel utilisation rates in 2013 at levels last seen in 2007.”
Deepwater vessel utilisation rates will “easily rise by 5 per cent” and rates also improve in shallow waters, according to Lefevre. “The years 2009 and 2010 were hard; there has been improvement in 2011, which we would have liked to have been faster, but we are very optimistic for the coming year.”
Go to http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-05/africa-drilling-may-boost-supply-ship-rates.html to read the full interview.
