Offshore booming

Massive investment is driving a new dawn for the offshore fabrication and service sectors.

The oil price has had a huge impact on the offshore industry, highlighting acute shortages in rigs, platforms and the skilled manpower the challenges the environment demands. This dedicated report from Oil & Gas Middle East provides an unrivalled insight into the industry and its increasingly significant impact on the Middle East.

The most common theme throughout focuses on some excellent local success stories. Profiles and project focus reports from the region's leading yards reveal the local market is capably tackling newbuild offshore accommodation units, platforms, and working flat out with FPSO conversion work.

With yards across the world working close to capacity the current boom has enabled Middle Eastern players to accept ambitious projects and proudly take their rightful place among the world's leading oil and gas fabrication facilities.

Exclusive extracts from a dedicated FPSO global market review published by Douglas-Westwood reveals that in recent years there has been a rapid expansion of the world's FPSO fleet, prompted in part by an increased demand for drilling units which has reduced the number of semi-submersible rigs available for conversion to production platforms.

International legislation phasing in requirements that tankers be fitted with double hulls provides further stimulus, since conversion of otherwise obsolete single-hull tankers into FPSOs enables the profitable re-utilization of depreciated assets.

FPSOs dominate the global floating production scene. As of year-end 2007, there have been nearly 190 FPSO deployments worldwide - 63% of all floating production systems (when combined with FPSSs, TLPs and spars).

This supplement also includes exclusive interviews from the world's best paint and coating manufacturers who examine the challenges and most recent developments involved with anti-corrosive and environmentally sound product developments.

As the offshore sector continues to surge from strength to strength you can be sure Oil & Gas Middle East will keep a close eye on the local and international developments pushing the offshore business into overdrive.

Daniel Canty is the editor of Oil & Gas Middle East.

RELATED LINKS: Ship shape, Weathering the storm, Living on the edge, Class act

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