Bluewater 1H numbers boosted by FPSO termination fee

Bluewater Shipping, a provider of floating production storage and offloading units for the international offshore oil and gas industry, reported a raise in net profit of the first half of 2016.

The company’s profit after tax was $43.6 million, up from $1.2 million for the corresponding period of 2015.

Bluewater’s EBITDA was $126 million, up from $121 million in the first half of 2015.

The company runs two divisions, the single point mooring (SPM) division and FPSO division.

The FPSO division saw a rise in EBITDA, reaching $107 million, an increase when compared to $87.9 million a year ago.

Explaining the rise in the FPSO division, Bluewater said the extra cash mainly came from the termination fee paid by Eni for the FPSO Glas Dowr which used to operated at the Kitan field in the Timor Sea. The EBITDA for FPSO Haewene Brim increased by $14.2 million, mainly due to the fact that in the first half year of 2015 the Haewene Brim suffered from increased maintenance costs and reduced income due to constraints in production levels which was not the case in the first half year of 2016.

While Bluewater said EBITDA was increased by Glas Dowr termination fee, it also added it was addressing outstanding contractual matters with the client to establish final close out and reach a settlement of the last portion of the remaining termination fee payment. FPSO Glas Dowr left the Kitan field on February 27, 2016.

Also, Glas Dowr is not the only FPSO in the fleet that saw its contract terminated. On March 1, 2016, the company received a notice of termination of the contract with Nexen for the FPSO Aoka Mizu producing from the Ettrick field. Production ceased on June 1, 2016 and decommissioning of the vessel was completed on August 1, 2016 when the FPSO Aoka Mizu left the Ettrick field. Redeployment opportunities for the FPSO Aoka Mizu are actively being pursued, the company said.