Indian Offshore Companies Set Sight on Emerging Markets

Indian offshore companies are making substantial investments to acquire vessels to tap the oil exploration and drilling services market in emerging markets, led by Brazil, to scale up revenues in the coming years.

Domestic offshore companies led by Greatship India, Great Offshore, Essar Shipping and Global Offshore compete for contracts to be awarded by Petrobras, the world's largest deep-water and ultra-deep water oil producer. "The demand for vessels in Brazil is as much as 500 in the coming years and there is a market in excess of $30 billion, which can be tapped by Indian companies," said the MD of a leading domestic offshore player.

While 50% of the vessels deployed in Brazil are non-Brazil flag vessels, European and Asian companies have been actively pursuing the market for bigger tonnage and larger supply vessels.

Greatship India is awaiting the delivery of seven of its vessels, while Global Offshore has already planned to acquire two platform supply vessels by the next year at a cost of Rs. 500 crore. Bharati Shipyard-owned Great offshore will also look to raise its total fleet from the current 47. "While I cannot divulge the details of our further expansion plans, Great Offshore is targeting Brazil. We currently do not have any fleet in Brazil, but we are looking to enter the market in a big way, especially in the larger supply vehicles and anchor handling vessels," said PC Kapoor, MD of Great Offshore.

While parallels can be drawn between India and Brazil in terms of oil reserves in offshore, India has been lagging behind in exploration. "India's scale of operation in the offshore sector is about [th of what Brazil has and on a relative basis, this is inadequate," said Anjan Brahma, analyst at i-maritime consultancy. Sheth family-controlled Greatship India currently has a fleet size of 19 and is expected to scale up to 28 in the next two years, which is likely to be deployed in emerging markets such as Brazil and Australasia.

"We are looking at emerging markets such as Brazil and Australasia in terms of oil exploration and drilling services and subsea market. We were awarded a contract with Petrobras in collaboration with Fugro, which is estimated at a value of more than 450 crore for a five-year period," said Greatship India MD Ravi K Sheth. Smaller companies such as Global Offshore and Varun Shipping have also been in the race.

Varun Shipping recently signed a contract with Petrobras for three anchor handling towing and supply vessels. The deal was valued at Rs. 690 crore for the first four years, with another Rs. 690 crore to be paid in case of an extension.

-Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News