Page 13 - Euroil Week 32 2019

EurOil PERFORMANCE EurOil
Fluor collects new UK business after suffering losses
UK
Fluor suffered a $555mn loss in the three months ending June 30.
TEXAS-BASED engineering firm Fluor has secured two new contracts from UK operators – a welcome bright spot a er booking a surprise loss in the second quarter.
The company’s Stork subsidiary has been awarded a contract extension for fabric mainte- nance and related services at assets belonging to UK energy group Centrica, it said on August 1. Stork will carry out the work at platforms at the Rough gas project in the southern North Sea, as well as the Easington terminal in Yorkshire that collects its gas.
Rough is a late-life eld rst developed in the 1960s and is one of the few upstream assets that Centrica plans to retain as it seeks a buyer for its main Spirit Energy exploration and production unit.
Stork has been maintaining Centrica’s UK assets under a fixed-term contract signed in
2009, with the extension coming into effect in June and due to renew automatically each year. Stork will work with specialist access sys- tems including sca olding, integrity engineer- ing, non-destructive testing, bolting services, advanced online desanding as well as surface preparation and coatings.
Fluor also recently landed a contract for front-end engineering and design (FEED) for a new 300,000 tonne per year (tpy) vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) unit at UK chem- ical group Ineos’ Saltend plant in Hull. e company will help design the facility as well as select its technology and work out cost estimates.
Fluor suffered a $555mn loss in the three months ending June 30, marking a reversal from net earnings of $115mn a year earlier, as a result of $714mn in pre-tax charges. ™
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Providence cleared for Barryroe survey
IRELAND
The company’s plans are contingent on receiving delayed funds from its Chinese partner.
DUBLIN-TRADED Providence Resources has secured approval to conduct a site survey at its Barryroe oil prospect o the Irish coast, but it is still waiting on cash from its Chinese partner to fund the work.
Providence has permission to undertake sea- bed debris clearance and an environment base- line and habitat baseline and habitat assessment survey at the Barryroe site, situated in waters 100 metres deep some 50km o shore, it said on August 9. e survey is slated to start later this month, but only if the company nally receives a $10mn payment from Hong Kong-based private partner APEC Energy.
Providence was meant to secure the pay- ment in early July, and has since then repeat- edly pushed back the deadline, blaming the delay on “ongoing banking processing delays.” e latest cut-o point has been set as August 12.
e funds will help cover Providence’s front- end and pre-drill costs at Barryroe, where it
serves as operator with a 40% stake. APEC owns a 50% share in the project, while Irish junior Lansdowne Oil & Gas has 10%. Later this year Providence intends to embark on a $200mn ve- well drilling programme at the site, which APEC has also agreed to pay for under a farm-in deal signed in March last year.
Providence’s financial position is precari- ous, with the company currently having only $1.45mn in cash. If the APEC funds do not arrive by August 12, the company has warned that it will need to seek out alternative sources of financing to have enough working capital beyond August.
Under cost-cutting plans announced ear- lier this month, Providence is moving out of its headquarters in Dublin when its lease expires in the fourth quarter, and is cutting ties with some service providers. It has also made sta redun- dant and reduced the size of its board.
Its aim is to slash annual costs from $5.3mn to $1.9mn. ™
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