BW Offshore returns to quarterly profit

FPSO operator BW Offshore returned to profit during the third quarter of the year. 

Namely, according to the company’s financial report on Friday, net profit for the 2017 quarter was $3.9 million compared to a loss of $11.2 in the third quarter of 2016.

BW Offshore’s operating revenues for the quarter dropped to $152.7 million compared to $159.6 million in the prior-year period.

The company’s net debt at the end of the quarter was $1.5 billion.

BW Offshore currently operates 11 units. The owned fleet includes 15 FPSOs and one FSO. Average commercial uptime during the third quarter was 98.4% due to downtime on Sendje Berge in September.

In its report on Friday, BW said that the oil and gas markets remain challenging. The company is experiencing increased market activity for new-built FPSOs, but due to the persisting situation of oversupply, the company believes a commercially disciplined approach for new investments is warranted. Consequently, BW Offshore said it expects a low number of awards in the medium-term.

The demand for re-deployments has increased and the majority of BW Offshore’s fleet remains on long-term contracts with national and independent oil companies.

The expected start-up of production from FPSO Catcher towards the end of 2017 will be a significant contributor to the cash flow of the Company in 2018 and the years to come.

Offshore Energy Today Staff