Oil and gas engineering and construction contractor Subsea 7 said yesterday the market outlook was uncertain for the medium term as a result of the economic climate.
It said, however, there had been no dramatic deterioration in the subsea sector, with national oil companies and major operators generally maintaining spending levels.
The Norwegian-owned company added: “As expected the anticipated spending of small operators has been reduced and a number of development plans have been re-evaluated and deferred.
“This has particularly affected the UK sector of the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico where a number of tieback projects have been postponed,” it said, adding that Norwegian activity was remaining stable.
It said: “There are indications of decreases in costs throughout the supply chain and the company is focused on reducing its costs and improving efficiencies in order to remain competitive in the current market.”
Subsea 7 said its worldwide order backlog at December 31 was about £2.32billion, including £1.41billion of day-rate contracts and £910million of lump-sum contracts.
The group – which has operations at Westhill, near Aberdeen, supporting group activities globally and employing about 1,000 out of Subsea 7’s 5,000 people worldwide – posted annual results for 2008 yesterday.
It achieved pre-tax profits for the year of £277.82million compared to profits of £221.69million in 2007.
Annual revenue was £1.67billion, up from £1.54billion the year before.