Category Archives: Offshore

NEW DELHI: While the benchmark indices remained cautious, the S&P BSE SmallCap index soared to touch its all-time high of 15760.25 with shares of Aban Offshore (up 12.22 per cent) as its top gainer in Friday's trade.

It was followed by B L Kashyap & Sons (up 9.38 per cent), Prozone Intu Properties (up 8.64 per cent), Usha Martin (up 8.38 per cent), Aptech (up 8.33 per cent), Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals (up 8.22 per cent), MPS (up 8.05 per cent), Jindal Saw (up 7.02 per cent), Indian Hume Pipe Company (up 6.45 per cent), Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (up 6.39 per cent), BASF India (up 6.24 per cent), Nutraplus India (up 5.86 per cent), Reliance Industrial InfraStructure (up 5.80 per cent), McNally Bharat Engineering Company (up 5.78 per cent) and Va Tech Wabag (up 5.53 per cent).

However, stocks such as Stampede Capital (down 19.85 per cent ), Ipca Laboratories (down 11.15 per cent ), Amtek Auto (down 10.18 per cent ), Metalyst Forgings (down 7.38 per cent ), Lanco Infratech (down 6.25 per cent ), Monnet Ispat & Energy (down 5.80 per cent ), Himachal Fibres (down 5.55 per cent ), Ricoh India (down 4.99 per cent ), Castex Technologies (down 4.97 per cent ), Videocon Industries (down 4.93 per cent ), Alok Industries (down 4.66 per cent ), Fineotex Chemical (down 3.50 per cent ), Bhushan Steel (down 3.47 per cent ), JM Financial (down 3.31 per cent ) and Dhunseri Petrochem (down 3.28 per cent ) were trading in red around the same time.

The BSE SmallCap index was trading 0.41 per cent up at 15710.14 around 12:38 pm (IST).

Among the 51 stocks in Nifty index, 26 were trading in green, while 24 were in red.

For trending stocks and buzzing news, track this LIVE BLOG from Dalal Street

Shares of JP Associates, GMR Infra, Indiabulls RE, HDFC, Idea Cellular, Reliance Comm, Suzlon Energy, HDIL, Aban Offshore, Amtek Auto, ICICI Bank, Adani Power, GVK Power Infra, Unitech and SBI were among most traded securities on the National Stock Exchange.

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Market Now: SmallCap index touched fresh high; Aban Offshore top gainer - Economic Times

LONDON-- BP PLC said Thursday it is pushing ahead with long-delayed efforts to develop natural gas offshore India in a $6 billion investment with India's Reliance Industries Limited.

The companies are expecting to produce 425 million cubic feet of gas a day from deep water gas fields roughly 70 kilometers off India's east coast by 2020, in the first of three projects they plan to develop with the funds. Between 2020 and 2022 they're expecting to add another 1 billion cubic feet a day of new gas production, assuming the other two projects are approved by the government.

BP first partnered with RIL in 2011, spending $7.2 billion for a 30% stake in oil and gas fields operated by the Indian company. The deal was the company's first major investment since its fatal blowout in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, and came at a time when BP was desperately selling assets elsewhere to help pay for the fallout from the spill.

It was meant to mark a step toward new growth prospects in a market where demand for oil and gas was growing rapidly, but for years government caps on gas prices limited profitability and stymied investment.

"It's taken a while to develop a natural gas price to help develop these projects," BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley told the industry CERAWeek conference in Houston in March. "It is behind in developing these resources."

But recent reforms to encourage development of India's natural resources, have helped to remove uncertainty over the gas price energy companies can hope to achieve for new production.

Now, the British oil giant seems ready to pile in again, hoping to take advantage of India's rapidly growing market. The country already consumes over 5 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day, according to BP. It hopes to double that number by 2022.

Though weak oil and gas prices have pressured spending across the industry and delayed new projects, BP has made it clear that it is back in growth mode after years of retrenchment. In addition to its latest investment in India, the company intends to add 800,000 barrels a day of new production by the end of the decade and has ambitious plans to increase profit from its refining and marketing arm.

In addition to their plans to boost gas production, BP and RIL also said Thursday they would look for other opportunities in India in conventional fuel retail as well as lower carbon alternatives.

Write to Sarah Kent at sarah.kent@wsj.com

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BP pushes ahead with offshore India gas plan - MarketWatch

Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. announced today that ithas refinanced its existing $200 millionrevolving credit facility with a new credit facility providing up to $300 million of term loans. The six-year term of the new credit facility extends the maturity of the old credit facility from February 2020 to June 2023.

Covington, La.-based Hornbeck said the new credit facility enhances its financial flexibility by increasing liquidity from the currently applicable borrowing base of $75 million under the old credit facility, extends the maturity date that existed under the old facility by over three years, and eliminates all of the existing financial ratio maintenance covenants and the anti-cash hoarding provision of the old facility.

The new facility may be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of distressed assets and/or the refinancing of existing debt, subject to, among other things, compliance with certain minimum liquidity (cash and credit availability) requirements.

As of 2 p.m. EDT, shares in Hornbeck were up over 30% on the news.

Hornbeck Offshore is a leading provider of technologically advanced, new generation offshore service vessels primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and Latin America.

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Hornbeck Offshore secures new credit facility - WorkBoat (blog)

The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labradors 30-year history operating offshore oil and gas projects provides a solid foundation to support offshore wind development, according to a new supply chain study.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Industry Association (NEIA) identified home-grown strengths in several areas such as geotechnical services, health and safety, research and education, environmental engineering and consulting, ocean technologies, monitoring and modeling and legal expertise.

The association wanted to quantify the many similarities between the needs of the offshore oil and gas industry and the offshore wind energy sector, said NEIA executive director Kieran Hanley.

As the cost of renewable energy development continues to decrease, and the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions continues to increase, we believe that new offshore wind energy projects on this side of the Atlantic Ocean are likely, said Hanley.

With the expertise we have developed through our offshore oil and gas industry, we are well-positioned to participate in those developments if we are adequately prepared, he added.

The study, carried out by Stapleton Environmental Consulting, is a preliminary survey of existing local capacity.

There are two major elements of the supply chain that are unavailable in the province and are highly unlikely to ever be sourced locally a wind turbine supplier and turbine installation vessels.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Canadas Beothuk Energy are developing a 180MW project off the islands west coast.

The pair proposes to install Siemens turbines on gravity base foundations about 20 miles offshore in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

The next big steps for the St Georges Bay scheme will be to secure an offtake agreement and environmental approvals.

Image: reNEWS

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Canadians tout offshore strengths - reNews

NEW DELHI BP (BP.L) and Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) said on Thursday they would invest $6 billion to boost India's gas output from an east coast block and expanded their tie-up to feed the South Asian nation's rising fuel and renewable energy demand.

India is replacing China as the driver of fuel demand growth globally. The International Energy Agency expects India to account for a quarter of global energy use by 2040.

BP wants to sell fuels in India in a tie up with Reliance, which operates the world's biggest refining complex and is chaired by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

"We will not do it (setting up fuel stations) alone. It will be in tie-up with Reliance. Maybe we will expand this to jet fuel also," BP's Chairman Bob Dudley told Reuters on the sidelines of an event to announce the investment plan and partnership.

BP has a license to sell jet fuel and build 3,500 fuel stations in India. India's pricing formula gives higher profits to retailers with refining plants or domestic supply sources.

Ambani said the partnership would also look at opportunities in trading that could include products such as oil, gas, fuels, liquefied natural gas (LNG), power, and carbon.

Dudley, who wants BP to catch up with production volumes of its biggest rivals Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), is banking on Indian policy moves and a favorable investment climate to unlock the resources.

After eight years, Reliance and BP have decided to invest in the D6 block on the east coast to raise gas output by 30-35 million cubic meters a day between 2020 and 2022. This will help in India's gradual migration to a gas-based economy.

"This is an important step forward for BP in India. Working closely together, Reliance and BP are now able to develop these major deep-water gas resources offshore India efficiently and economically," Dudley said.

BP in 2011 made a foray into India's exploration sector when it signed a $7.2 billion deal to buy a 30 percent stake in some oil and gas blocks operated by Reliance. It also formed gas sourcing and marketing tie-ups with the Indian conglomerate.

The gas joint venture is marketing some of the LNG sourced from BP's portfolio.

"I think that's what we are going to revive and reinvigorate," Dudley said, when asked if BP planned a long-term LNG supply deal with the Indian joint venture.

Dudley said the two companies were "not putting boundaries" on the expansion of the partnership, which will cover all forms of fuel marketing, retail distribution, and a combination of gas and renewables.

($1 = 64.5950 Indian rupees)

(Editing by Mark Potter)

LONDON Nestle may sell its roughly $900 million-a-year U.S. confectionery business, which includes Butterfinger and BabyRuth, in the Swiss food group's latest effort to improve the health profile of its sprawling portfolio.

LUXEMBOURG The sale of Banco Popular to Santander was a success, the head of euro zone finance ministers said on Thursday, dismissing criticism of a rescue that wiped out shareholders and junior bondholders of what was Spain's sixth biggest bank.

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BP, Reliance to invest in Indian gas block, cooperate downstream - Reuters

Energy Harvesting Journal

ROMEO project: reducing cost for offshore wind farm operators Energy Harvesting Journal A new flagship European project funded by the Horizon 2020 Programme under the topic LCE-13-2016, ROMEO (Reliable O&M decision tools and strategies for high LCoE reduction on Offshore wind), is seeking to reduce offshore O&M costs through the ...

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ROMEO project: reducing cost for offshore wind farm operators - Energy Harvesting Journal

Bondholders growing warier of shuttle tanker and offshore specialist.

Teekay Offshore Partners saw its bonds dive further into high-yield territory amid increasing concerns on the company's liquidity and the potential spillover effect to other Teekay companies.

In trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange, Teekay Offshore's floating rate notes maturing in 2018 are now trading 16% below par, with its floating rate notes maturing 2019 trading 19% below par. The company reported $256.6m in Norwegian kroner denominated debt at the end of last year.

Teekay Offshore's US dollar denominated bonds

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Teekay Offshore's bonds drop as risks rise - TradeWinds (subscription)

2. Offshore Banking in Singapore

When Singapore gained independence half a century ago, it was a backwater with no natural resources.

Today, it is one of the leading financial centers in the world.

Considering Singapores foreign reserves and sovereign wealth fund, the countrys financial position is exceptional, with net assets well over 100% of GDP.

In short, there is no chance Singapore is going broke any time soon.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is also solvent, and over the past few decades has proven to be a wise financial regulator.

Thats why Singapore has never had a banking failure in its history, ever.

And while past performance is no guarantee of future results, the entire banking system continues to maintain conservative levels of capitalization and liquiditycertainly much more than banks in the West.

It remains an oasis of financial stability. Its banks are well supervised and well regulated.

We wouldnt hesitate opening an offshore bank account in Singapore.

That being said, in the past you could open an excellent bank account in Singapore without even leaving home, but it has gotten much harder over the past few years.

Nowadays you will have to visit the island state in person andmany banks require substantial minimum deposits now.

First, lets get the elephant out of the room.

Unless youve been living under a rock, you are without a doubt aware of the Panama Papers scandal.

Thanks to that, Panama is suffering from an image problem.

Yes, theres a long list of politicians and crooks who used the services of the Mossack Fonseca law firm to hide income or immorally acquired funds.

But most of the Panama Papers uproar is just ballyhooing by people who dont understand (or dont want to understand) how offshore works... or why its so essential to the global economy.

Panama is a 100% dollarized economy and you will be dealing with US dollars as a depositor there.

On top of that Panama is just a short flight away from North America, so the physical presence requirement can be easily met if you reside in the States.

We have spent weeks crunching the numbers and visiting multiple banks in the country, and we can tell you that Panamas banking sector regardless of what ill-informed, financially illiterate journalists report is on solid footing.

Panamanian banks are liquid and well capitalized. Additionally, the governments debt position of 39.1% is pretty manageable.

Here at Sovereign Man we focus on providing objective, rational advice. Here it is:

The Panama Papers scandal should not deter you from considering banking in Panama if that is a jurisdiction that works for you.

On top of that Panama is the easiest place in the world to establish a second residency, which means you can knock out two major Plan B needs with just one visit.

A tiny German-speaking principality sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria, Liechtenstein, like its Swiss neighbor, has perfected the art of banking.

Liechtenstein has long been known as one of the top asset protection and private banking jurisdictions in the world.

The country is in compliance with all major directives and treaties for anti-money laundering and tax regulation initiatives, and it is rightly seen today as a well-regulated, blue-chip, offshore (technically onshore) destination.

Liechtenstein does not bother providing transactional banking to non-residents and focuses instead on high-end services (and does them extremely well).

If you are looking for a private bank, rather than a transactional bank account, we think Liechtenstein should be on your radar.

Not a single bank in Liechtenstein needed ANY assistance from the state during the global financial crisis. The countrys banks are generally conservative and well run.

Unfortunately, only a few of Liechtensteins banks have gone through the trouble and expense of setting up entities licensed as investment advisors with the SEC. Those few are the only ones able to take US persons as clients.

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Offshore Banking: - Sovereign Man

I've been following Teekay Offshore Partners (NYSE:TOO) for some time due to my interest in everything offshore drilling - related. Finally, a Morgan Stanley downgrade led to a decisive downside gap in Teekay Offshore units and I decided to take a closer look at the situation to determine whether the move presented a speculative opportunity.

On the surface, there were two catalysts behind the major downside moves in May and June. In May, Teekay Offshore reported its quarterly results where it stated that it received a notice of termination for the Arendal Spirit UMS (unit for maintenance and safety). In June, Morgan Stanley report assigned a $1.50 target to Teekay Offshore units.

At first glance, the market reaction is strange. Arendal Spirit has not been paid since November 2016, so the termination is hardly a surprise. As for the Morgan Stanley downgrade, the report did not include any new and surprising information that has not been available before. However, I'd argue that nothing strange happened - in fact, the stock market often operates in this way.

Arendal Spirit termination is minor news - the absolute majority of Teekay Offshore's revenue comes from FPSOs and shuttle tankers. At the same time, such negative news put the company in the spotlight and the market reacts to what it should have reacted previously - the refinancing concerns regarding Teekay Offshore.

Businesses like Teekay Offshore depend on open credit and equity markets for their operations. As of March 31 the company had $193 million of cash on the balance sheet while the current portion of long-term debt stood at $621 million. During the conference call, the company stated that it was working with lenders under the facility secured by the Arendal Spirit to grant an extension of the facility while the company was searching for the new job for the unit. Also, Teekay Offshore stated that it was considering partial asset sales and joint ventures to improve its liquidity.

In current circumstances, it looks increasingly unlikely that Teekay Offshore will be able to tap equity markets for short-term financial help. In this sense, Morgan Stanley's downgrade acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy, pushing Teekay Offshore's units down and almost eliminating the possibility of an equity raise. Another problem is the state of the offshore drilling market, which is yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

There was much talk about offshore drilling adaptation to lower oil prices during the recent earnings season but I have not seen factual confirmation for this. Oil price action itself is alarming, with both Brent (NYSEARCA:BNO) and WTI (NYSEARCA:USO) below $50 per barrel despite OPEC/non-OPEC deal. The outlook for the offshore drilling market will certainly influence the lender's decision regarding Teekay Offshore's indebtedness.

The main problem as I see it may be that lenders demand significant concessions from Teekay Offshore including the elimination of distribution. The elimination of distribution typically puts big pressure on the units as distribution is the main reason to invest in such companies.

In my view, the risk/reward balance is not great neither for the long nor for the short side here. Any real positive news on negotiations and the shorts could be killed as Teekay Offshore units are already at low levels. At the same time, the fundamentals of the offshore drilling business are bad in the short-term and will influence the company's negotiations with lenders. In these games, common unitholders carry a disproportionate amount of risk. I think that not all this risk has already been baked in Teekay Offshore's unit price so if additional negative information comes out there'll be more room to fall.

My verdict is that Teekay Offshore units are currently an avoid for everyone except short-term traders who rely on technical analysis for their entries and exists. I believe that it will be hard to control risk in both a long or a short position if it held for more than a couple of days.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: I may trade any of the abovementioned stocks.

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Teekay Offshore: Speculative Opportunity? - Seeking Alpha

By Mary Ann Bragg Cape Cod Times

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. With the countrys first offshore wind farm up and running for the past six months, labor and environmental advocates are looking toward future collaborations on even larger projects.

Many years of hard work ensured that these were good quality union jobs that paid good solid wages, said Kimberly Glas, executive director of BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of labor unions and environmentalists, as a chartered boat neared the Block Island Wind Farm on Tuesday.

As more offshore wind energy projects are developed off New England and New York more grassroots effort is needed, Glas said.

I ask folks to start calling their legislators and start showing up at city council meetings to figure out ways to ensure that these are quality jobs, she said.

The nonprofit National Wildlife Federation sponsored the boat tour of the 30-megawatt, five-turbine wind farm installed by Deepwater Wind, one of three offshore wind energy companies with plans to build more wind turbines on leased land south of the Islands. The federation, with 6 million members, wants to protect wildlife from the effects of climate change through clean energy options such as wind.

This kind of (boat) trip allows our company to talk about how offshore wind can be built and has been built in the United States, said Matthew Morrissey, Massachusetts vice-president for Deepwater Wind.

The partners in Block Island project were environmental groups, organized labor, government regulators, fishing groups and others, Morrissey said.

Its an opportunity to come together and see that you can actually build a new economy in America while protecting the environment, he said about the tour.

Among the 115 people on board the fast ferry Ava Pearl were labor leaders representing union members such as welders, painters and crane operators who helped build the wind farm.

Construction of the wind farm created 300 local jobs, according to Deepwater Wind.

They did sign an agreement to do it all union, said Scott Duhamel of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council.

The political strength of unions in Rhode Island, with the support of congressional and state legislators, along with union representatives showing up at and speaking at public meetings, all helped seal the deal, Duhamel said.

I have to admit they could do it without us but they didnt, he said.

Deepwater Wind could have used non-union labor, Duhamel said.

They did it with us, he said. We feel our people are better trained.

The typical wages of the union workers who worked on the wind farm ranged from $28 to $40 per hour plus benefits, union representatives said.

Were thankful to Deepwater for having trust not only in IBEW but the building trades in general, said Michael Monahan, a regional vice-president of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

While the construction of a wind farm employs many people in the short term, the long-term maintenance of the equipment creates more jobs, said Monahan and Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training Director Scott Jensen.

Were doing the commute that thousands and thousands of people are going to be doing over the next any number of years, Jensen said as the boat passed alongside the towering turbines.

Monahan and others said they are hoping for more union contracts in upcoming offshore wind energy projects.

At the end of June, theres an opportunity to bid on power contracts with three electric distribution companies in Massachusetts, which could attract Deepwater Wind, Bay State Wind and Vineyard Wind, all of which have signed leases for federal land south of the Islands. Bay State and Vineyard Wind officials said recently that they could start construction in the early 2020s.

Excerpt from:

Labor, environmentalists tout first US offshore wind farm - SouthCoastToday.com