Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Revenues of Italian Saipem company amounted to €8,526 million in 2018, down by 5.3 percent from 2017, Trend reports citing the company.
This is due to a contraction in the Onshore E&C and Offshore Drilling sectors, partly offset by increased activities in the Offshore E&C sector, Saipem explained.
Adjusted net profit amounted to 25 million euros, down from 46 million eurs in 2017; against an increased adjusted operating result, the improvement in financial expenses, due to lower exchange rate differences, was more than absorbed by a significant loss from an equity accounted affiliate, deriving from the worsening of a contract under execution by a jointly-controlled company, as well as by a higher tax rate and third-party results, according to Saipem’s report on 2018 results.
Capital expenditure in 2018, inclusive of the purchase of the vessel Saipem Constellation (approximately 220 million euros), amounted to 485 million euros (262 million euros in 2017), broken down as follows: - 345 million euros in Offshore Engineering & Construction; - 28 million euros in Onshore Engineering & Construction; - 66 million euros in Offshore Drilling; -46 million euros in Onshore Drilling.
Among the most import contract awards for last year, Saipem also named a contract in Azerbaijan for the development of the Absheron field in the Caspian Sea on behalf of Total.
The scope of work includes engineering, procurement, fabrication and offshore installation, assistance to commissioning and to performance testing of a production flowline, its Flowline End Termination structure and main umbilical, said the company.
As for the project status, a source in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas market told Trend that first well drilling is ongoing. “We are drilling the first branch (well has two branches).”
The source went on to add that the final investment decision (FID) of Absheron development first phase (Early Production Scheme) was taken last year, then there is an investment plan for Absheron covering this phase. “For next phases further studies need to be done before reaching FID.”
Absheron’s reserves are estimated at 326 billion cubic meters of gas and 108 million tons of condensate, according to the estimations of Total specialists.
The first phase of the field’s development envisages drilling of one well at a sea depth of 450 meters. The production will stand at 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas and 700,000 tons of condensate per year and these volumes will be used in Azerbaijan’s domestic market. It is planned to produce up to 4 billion cubic meters of gas at the second stage.
JOCAP, is a joint venture with 50 percent ownership by SOCAR and the remaining 50 percent - by Total, the operator of the development of the Absheron field.
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