De concurrentie raakt in problemen zoals verwacht.
By Gareth Chetwynd 17 April 2015 16:45 GMT
Brazil’s Schahin Group has filed for bankruptcy protection for all 28 of its companies and will drop most civil engineering and construction activities to focus on the oil and gas sector, according to a statement released by the group on Friday.
Schahin has been hit hard by the credit crunch affecting Brazilian contractors and admitted that the judicial recovery proceedings involve liabilities of 6.5 billion reais (about $2.2 billion).
Schahin was recently obliged to pay $270 million to China International Marine Containers (CIMC) after losing out in arbitration proceedings involving bills for the construction of the semi-submersible rigs Amazonia and Pantanal.
The two semisubs were built between 2010 and 2011 and awarded five-year terms with Petrobras at rates of $365,000 per day.
However, Schahin's oil and gas unit recently suspended operations with these units - as well as with three drillships: Lancer, Cerrado and Sertao - due to the financial difficulties facing the group.
When asked if the arbitration ruling with CIMC had any impact on the move to seek bankruptcy protection, Schahin declined to comment.
The Sertao and Cerrado, which were contracted through 2022 were used by a Petrobras-led consortium to drill two recent wells on the Libra field in the in the Santos basin.
The Pantanal and SC Lancer have been drilling development wells in the Roncador and Jubarte fields, respectively, while the Amazonia was drilling an appraisal well in the Espirito Santo basin.
Petrobras has acknowledged that operations with five of Schahin's rigs have been "temporarily halted" and stated that the rigs would be taken out of a service "in a safe manner".
Contractual proceedings are likely to ensue.
Besides operating drilling rigs, Schahin's oil and gas arm partners Japanese floater specialist Modec International in supplying floating production, storage and offloading vessels into the Brazilian market.
Three more of these are in the pipeline: the Cidade de Itaguai FPSO, due for delivery in the fourth quarter; the Cidade de Caraguatatuba FPSO, scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2016; and another unit to be deployed in the Tartaruga Verde field in 2018.
Several Brazilian contractors, including OAS, Galvao Engenharia, Alumini Engenharia and Iesa, have already sought bankruptcy protection due to the savage credit crunch resulting from revelations about the existence of a multi-billion dollar kickback scheme at Petrobras.