years ago. This reflects only facilities where major fabrication or integration contracts are being performed. Subsupply and engineering is performed in many other locations. There has been a pronounced shift in work from Europe to Asia. Ten years back, more than 50 percent of the major fabrication work on production floaters was performed in Europe. Asia at that time accounted for 30 percent of the work. Now Europe accounts for 25 percent of floater fabrication activity - and Asia accounts for 55 percent. Particularly significant is the increasing role of Chinese shipyards in fabrication of FPSOs. Five yards in China are now involved in FPSO construction. There is a discernible pattern of specialization in the production floater fabrication market. Korean yards have established a leading position in delivering large, complex FPSOs for projects offshore West Africa, as well as fabrication of production semi hulls for the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea. Singaporean and UAE yards have developed a major position in converting tankers to FPSO vessels. Chinese yards have established a major presence in fabricating mid-range FPSO hulls and currently are the only builders of cylindrical FPSOs. Facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast and Northern Europe have a major presence in topsides engineering, fabrication and integration.
materialize into equipment fabrication contracts within the next three to five years. We also expect that many other production floater requirements will emerge over the next several years, particularly projects involving smaller fields, which are not currently on the radar screen. Based on our analysis of the likely production option to be selected for known projects, we anticipate that FPSOs will be the choice in about 60 percent of future production floater projects. The remaining 40 percent will be split among production semis, spars, TLPs and barges. We are forecasting orders for 119 to 149 production floater orders over the next five years. This forecast is 15 percent higher than the forecast made by IMA in March 2006, reflecting the stronger underlying market fundamentals that have developed over the past year. These orders will generate capital expenditures of $47 to 60 billion.
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Bullish Outlook for Future Orders
In the 11 years since IMA has been tracking the floating production market, the fundamentals driving the sector have never been stronger. Crude futures prices six years out are in the mid-$60s per barrel and $50+ crude is gaining increasing acceptance as the measure for project hurdles. According to a recent industry survey, capital budgets for E&P spending are expected to grow 10 to 15 percent in 2007, with a large percentage of companies earmarking deepwater as their spending priority. Deepwater drill rig demand is bursting at the seams, with day rates for high specification floaters passing the $500,000 mark. A surge of new deepwater drill equipment will be delivered over the next few years, eliminating some of the constraints on exploration and development that have slowed deepwater projects. Evidencing this strong underlying market, more than $3 billion of speculative investment has been made in a dozen production floaters now on order without field contract. IMA has been tracking more than 100 offshore projects in the planning pipeline that potentially require floating production systems. We believe there is a strong likelihood that 50 to 75 percent of these projects will actually
www,seadiscovery.com
James R. McCaul
IMA has just issued an in-depth analysis of the floating production market. The 160 page report provides details for production and storage floaters now in service, profiles all of the known floater projects in the planning pipeline and provides a five year forecast of production floater and storage unit orders. This report is a continuation of a series of reports on the floater market that IMA began in the mid 1990s. The reports, issued at four month intervals, have become a popular reference source in the floater sector. For further information contact us at 1-832-203-5622, or visit our website
www.imastudies.com
Marine Technology Reporter 37
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