With an eye on bridging the economic downturn, Bollinger began a new-build program based on speculation. The program, which calls for 12 new 210-foot OSVs, will keep their workforce intact and the vessels will be sold to the highest bidder in the future. In fact, Bollinger sold the first two vessels from the program to Odyssey Marine via an online auction. "These vessels are bridging the gap between now and the start of a new government contract," Socha said. "Bollinger is continuing to aggressively move forward. We're improving our shipyards and building larger drydocks to handle larger supply boats to support our customer base. We're building a better Bollinger." At Tidewater, Bennett said it is hard to tell now what 2009 will hold. "We continue to be going through a bit of a transition that will likely last a while, but it's difficult to know what the oil companies will be doing in 2009, because they haven't disclosed their budgets yet," Bennett said. "Everyone knows 2009 will have its challenges and fortunately we've been through these times before. We know how and where to cut costs and we're monitoring our vessels closely." On Dec. 19, Barclay Capital's Original E&P Spending Survey was released, painting a cloudy picture for the
domestic and global oil and gas industry. According to the report, the sharpest declines will be felt domestically, as companies predicted a 26 percent drop in spending to $79 billion from $106 billion. Globally, however, the industry is expected to contract a modest 12 percent, with spending totaling $400 billion from $454 bill a year ago. "Given the longer-term nature of international projects and the dominance of the majors and national oil companies internationally, E&P cap expenditure budgets outside North America are showing more moderate declines down 6 percent in 2009 to $300 billion from $319 billion in 2008. This would end a nine-year upturn," the report states. "That [$300 billion] is still a pretty darn healthy level of spending," Bennett said. "So, the sky isn't falling. Are we seeing a hick-up? Sure we are. But on a much longer term basis, basic fundamentals are still good and should cause oil prices to go up again. Now no one knows the timing of that. We believe reasonable [oil] prices are in the $70 to $80 price range." But for now, it appears the oil and gas industry and its support sector is weathering the economic storm. "Our business doesn't change on a dime," Bennett said. "It takes a little while for any real market change to affect us."
A shot of the first of 10 Speculation boats that Bollinger is building at its Lockport facility. Bollinger has started marketing - to the domestic and international markets - the new DP2 design Offshore Supply boat that is being built for the International market as a Solas Subchapter L vessel.
www.seadiscovery.com
Marine Technology Reporter 39
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