SERI KEMBANGAN: SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd, which plans to spend US$200mil in capital expenditure (capex) over the next two years, is bidding for oil and gas-related services jobs worth a total of RM6bil to RM7bil.
Executive vice-chairman Datuk Shahril Shamsuddin said local projects comprised 70% of its bid book.
Currently, SapuraCrest's order book stands at RM5bil, which will last the company another 30 months.
“We are currently completing RM2bil to RM3bil worth of jobs per annum so we have to continuously replenish our order book to sustain growth,” Shahril said after the company AGM yesterday.
He added that one local job that SapuraCrest was bidding for was the Gemusut deepwater exploration but declined to disclose the value of the job. However, he said the group would know the tender outcome by year-end.
Its current order book includes a RM3bil three-year extension to an ongoing contract with Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd and the RM600mil contract from Murphy Oil Co Ltd for the Kikeh project in Sabah.
On its capex, Shahril said SapuraCrest expected to utilise 90% of the allocation for asset acquisitions.
Chairman Datuk Hamzah Bakar said owning assets was among the ways to mitigate rising costs, as higher leasing cost would be affect earnings.
“We have to manage the cost efficiently and meet customer demand as we are in competition with other service providers,” he said.
To keep the maintenance cost of the assets down, SapuraCrest has entered into joint ventures, which could also help the company penetrate new markets.
Last year, SapuraCrest teamed up with Larsen & Toubro Ltd of India to build a new vessel to undertake shallow water installation services in meeting the growing needs of the oil and gas industry in India, the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East.
Shahril said SapuraCrest would be investing up to RM200mil in India.
“The vessel in India will start operations in 2009 and start contributing to the company from 2010 onwards,” he added.
Asked if SapuraCrest planned to sell its equities to Seadrill Ltd, Shahril said: “We have never sold any shares to Seadrill. Seadrill bought our shares from the open market.”
“We are not selling anything right now. We are interested in buying more assets,” he added.
According to the latest filing with Bursa Malaysia, Seadrill currently owns 226.2 million shares, or 19.31%, in SapuraCrest.
Source : The Star
