Oil and gas companies are dishing out more contracts for subsea trees as the industry continues its global resurgence.
Research from data firm Westwood Global finds that, as of the end of May, a total of 155 units have been awarded so far in 2023.
That is a 29% year-on-year rise, driven by the major’s issuing deals in South America and Gulf of Mexico.
Subsea trees are placed at the wellhead of a field to monitor and control the flows of oil and gas – the installation of units if used as a yardstick for offshore activity.
Mark Adeosun, director of Westwood’s SubseaLogix database said: “At the end of May 2023, subsea tree unit awards recorded year-to-date closed at 155 units, a 29% year-on-year increase.
“Major awards announced in May include an integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (iEPCI) for TechnipFMC for Equinor’s BM-C-33 project offshore Brazil and Shell’s Dover field in the US GoM.
“OneSubsea was also awarded an integrated contract with a Subsea 7 and Saipem consortium to develop TPOA’s Sakarya Phase II gas field in the Black Sea offshore Turkey.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Westwood highlighted the award of a deal for Eni’s Baleine phase II development off Ivory Coast as one to watch.
There was also recognition for Woodside Energy’s Trion project in Mexico.
Westwood expects ExxonMobil to lead exploration and production subsea tree demand over the forecast period ahead of Petrobras, driven by the US supermajor’s field development plans offshore Guyana and Nigeria.
Mr Adeosun added: “Our full-year 2023-2027 subsea tree demand outlook is forecast at approximately 1,400 units, a 3% increase compared to last month’s forecast. Potential upside remains following the signing of a host government agreement (HGA) and a vital production sharing agreement by Shell and Equnior, creating a pathway for the development of gas reserves in Blocks 1, 2 and 4 offshore Tanzania to feed the proposed 10 to 15 mmpta Tanzania LNG project.”
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