Oil services company Petrofac has won a $2.3 billion contract from the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations.

Under the 44-month lump-sum contract, Petrofac will provide engineering, procurement and construction services to upgrade the production capacity of the Asab field.

Ayman Asfari, Petrofac's group chief executive, said: 'This contract represents one of Petrofac's most important project awards to date and is a significant achievement for our Engineering & Construction business.'

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=3540784

Petrofac, the London-based oil-services provider that’s part of a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi government, said in a statement today it won the right to develop the Asab oilfield for $2.3 billion after it was renegotiated to reflect the drop in energy prices.

“Since mid-way through last year, we’ve seen reductions in dollar terms as well as in bulk material prices due to market conditions,” Olly Scott, a spokesman for Petrofac, told Bloomberg News by phone today, declining to comment on the original contract value. “We’ve passed on those cost savings to the client.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...mp;refer=energy

Petrofac receives $543 million EPC contract from KOC

Petrofac has received a $543 million lump-sum contract from the Kuwait Oil Company. The contract is for engineering, procurement and construction services for a new gas pipeline running from the Kuwait Oil Company's Booster Station 131 in North Kuwait to its liquefied petroleum gas plant located at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery.

http://www.energy-business-review.com/arti...24-8148EBDE696B

Although management said there was a degree of uncertainty regarding new order flows, it has confirmed that its engineering and construction unit was bidding for orders of $10bn (£6.8bn).

Its engineering division order backlog stood at $2.4bn, which is flat year-on-year and roughly equivalent to 12 months' revenue.

Its operations services unit saw its backlog fall 16pc to $1.6bn but this change was entirely caused by dollar strength.

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The shares, on a December 2008 earnings multiple of 6.8 times are trading at a premium to peer John Wood Group, which trades on a multiple of 5.8 times.

On the plus side, the company is relatively debt free, with a gearing ratio of just 22pc. Petrofac expects its gross cash balances at the end of the year to be around $600m. The stock also has a healthy dividend yield of 4.1pc, which should be safe because it is more than three times covered by earnings.

The shares are undoubtedly cheap by historical standards – and, taking a long-term view, the shares are a good buy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets...-oil-price.html

Just wonder how many of these oil services companies are having to re-negotiate contracts similar to the way the construction sector operates? Know someone who works deep-sea, don't understand his job, but his next contract is May, everything dried up at present. Could imagine this scenario, with the oil price having fallen, happening to a good number oil service companies or am i wrong?

Shares in Petrofac (PFC.L) gain 5.4 percent as Morgan Stanley starts coverage of the oil services firm with an "overweight" rating and a price target of 570 pence.

The broker says it expects Petrofac's earnings to prove more resilient than those of its peers in the current downturn in the oilfield service market due to its sizeable order backlog, and exposure to Middle Eastern gas projects and the relatively stable operations services market.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL56380120090205

Yet again Petrofac issued an impressive announcement. This time it managed to beat expectations in its full-year results, which came in around 6pc ahead of consensus.

Revenues at the oil and gas services company rose 36pc to $3.3bn (£2.4bn), with earnings per share up 41pc to 77.1 cents.

Because of the subdued oil price, Questor has been cautious about the shares and has maintained a hold stance for some time. However, after today's confident results and with the shares around 20p lower than the last time Questor covered them, the stance has now been upgraded to a buy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets...d-prospect.html

LONDON (Reuters) - Petrofac has won a $2.2 billion contract to build an oil and gas processing plant in Algeria, the oil & gas service group said on Wednesday.

Petrofac said it would carry out engineering, buying and construction on the El Merk central processing facility (CPF) in the North African nation's Berkine Basin during the next 44 months. The firm expects the site to produce its first significant volumes in 2012, it said in a statement.

http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNew...E52A0CY20090311

Petrofac seen as vital source of investment for oil exploration

PETROFAC says it is being approached by an increasing number of oil explorers about taking equity stakes in field developments as a way of reducing costs.

The UK oil services group, which has about 4,000 employees in Aberdeen, has an energy developments unit that takes stakes in some of the projects Petrofac provides services for.

And chief financial officer Keith Roberts yesterday claimed that, because of a lack of available credit, smaller oil companies were struggling to fund projects, prompting an increasing number to approach Petrofac about taking a stake.

Roberts explained: "We're certainly seeing many more of those opportunities coming through our door, because a smaller independent (oil company] who has a development asset, is going to really struggle to raise the capital to develop it himself."

He added that the company was not seeking to build its own oil production business, but where an investment is attractive and clients wanted it to take a stake, Petrofac would consider investing. It hopes to complete "one or two" equity deals this year, he said. Petrofac reported a 39 per cent rise in pre-tax profits for 2008 to $358 million (£259m) on revenue up 36 per cent to $3.33 billion.

http://business.scotsman.com/energyutiliti...urce.5054012.jp

Certainly doing better than Lamprell who issued a profits warning today. Did wonder whether some in the sector might suffer as a result of planned spends going forward. Little snippet of a RNS

Lamprell (ticker: LAM), a leading provider of specialist engineering services to
the international oil & gas industry is due to announce its preliminary results
for the year ended 31 December 2008 on 30 March 2009 which will be in line with
market expectations. Despite a significant order book, it has become apparent in
recent weeks that there is a marked slowdown in the Company's business except
for the rig refurbishment business which is currently busy but is anticipated to
slowdown in the second half of the year. Lamprell, at this time, expects the out
turn for 2009 to be significantly below current market expectations.

http://www.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&a...21&epic=LAM

Notice their shares recovered though after the initial thud.

Oil and gas services group Petrofac (PFC) said it has made a strong start to the year, with the firm's order backlog doubling to 8.2 billion dollars at the end of April. Chairman Rodney Chase is confident 2009 will be another year of strong growth after its biggest business, engineering and construction, bagged 5 billion dollars of new contracts in the first quarter of the year. The wins in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Algeria give high revenue visibility through to 2011, he added. About 6.7 billion dollars of the firm's order backlog is accounted for by the unit, up from 2.4 billion dollars at the end of 2008. The firm added that offshore engineering & operations, engineering services, training and production solutions businesses have all performed broadly in line with expectations so far this year, although it is seeing early evidence of customers adjusting discretionary spending plans. The company's financial position received a boost, with gross cash balances now above 900 million dollars thanks to advances from customers on new engineering and construction projects. Shares in Petrofac rose by 12p to 602p.

UK-Analyst.com: Friday 15th May 2009 Market Report

That one really does look bombed out, the share price looked to have found consistant support at around 80 - 85 but that was broken today.

I can remember on FSN around a year ago how Puplava talked all the time about how difficult it was to get a rig, or how expensive the day rate was.

Compare that with now.

25.06.08: +13, (568) an article in the Times reports: Lamprell rose 25.5p to 560p on news it had signed a large contract to build new oil rigs.

20.03.09 :+10.75, (70.25) the oil and gas services company warns its 2009 results will be materially below market expectations after a market slowdown in recent weeks. Analyst Keith Morris at Evolution Securities, who moves to "reduce" from "add" on the stock, cuts his 2009 numbers from flat revenue to down 20%. "However, the change in the numbers is not the real story -- the real story is that the new build rig market is likely to remain depressed for some time due to overcapacity of rigs and poor day rates," he says.

http://www.sharecrazy.com/share2607share/s...er&epic=LAM

13 Jun 2009

Things just seem to be getting better and better for oil services group Petrofac. The group designs, builds and operates oil and gas facilities as well as trains personnel and develops exploration and production projects.

The company has more than doubled its backlog this year to $8.2bn (£5bn) after a series of contract wins in the Middle East.

Speaking on Thursday, Keith Roberts, the company's chief financial officer, said that the group had not reduced its margins to win this new business.

This is reassuring as it is well known that oil majors are trying to cut costs.

Mr Roberts also said that the group had "outstanding revenue visibility well into 2011 and beyond." It also has gross cash balances of around $900m.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets...investment.html

Oil & gas services provider Petrofac has been awarded a $2.1bn integrated gas development contract in Abu Dhabi.

Is 50%-owned joint enture, Petrofac Emirates, in partnership with GS E&C, has received a letter of award from GASCO for a contract with a value to Petrofac of around $1bn.

The 48-month lump-sum contract, which is due to start in August, is for the construction of the 4th NGL train at the Ruwais complex in Abu Dhabi.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=3645993