courtesy Siem Offshore

Siem Offshore — a heavyweight among offshore vessel owners — has reported its number-crunching suggests North America and the North Sea are about to bounce back from a “wave of project delays” that have gone largely unreported.

The company has several new-build ships awaiting contracts, but gloom has not taken hold, and Group chairman Kristian Siem told Scandoil.com that “The spot market is not so bad right now".

“I believe that it is likely that more anchor handlers that were working the spot market in the past will in future work on long-term contracts outside the North Sea,” Siem said.

Indeed, more offshore work moving rig anchors and supplying platforms is in the offing.

“We expect tenders to be issued shortly for long-term contracts for the anchor-handlers,” he said.

The offshore fleets are a key bellwether of oilfield activity, and Siem said via presentation that the market has seen its “down side”. Now, many North Sea projects look “viable” again, and in North America, a number of “major offshore projects are on the horizon” after a number of unreported project cancellations.

“Lack of credit has delayed activity, especially in the North Sea,” Siem said in his presentation Wednesday at brokerage house Pareto's oil conference. The Siem Group is parent company to offshore engineering giant contractor Subsea 7.

In North America, “Smaller operators are waiting to reignite offshore activity.” Indeed, a surge of new players with hopes for returns pinned to oilfield activity are making the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Canada interesting again.

But Siem is also charting delays in African projects, saying “It’s unlikely that Africa will see growth until 2012 or 2013." Until, then (political and project) “uncertainty” in Nigeria is holding down an East African boom which showed its promise in the past three years.

Back in the capital-intensive North Sea ,“stable” oil prices are seen staying at “economical” levels that facilitate offshore development. But a fall in supplier costs has been "larger than the fall in oil company spending", and the supply chain is eager for payback after trimming costs for nearly a year.

ws@scandoil.com

Tags: Siem Offshore Inc, Subsea 7