In their 2020 review Subsea 7 reported a net cost of US$70mn through dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and additional restructuring charges of US$86mn. Yet, despite this, the company suffered no contract cancellations and increased their backlog of work by 20% to US$6.2bn prompting calls of encouragement for the future, especially with the continuing market stabilisation of oil and gas and growth of the offshore renewables market.
In January, to cope with the Covid-induced difficulties and align with their strategic focus area ‘subsea field of the future – systems and delivery’, Subsea 7 streamlined their business by combining their SURF and conventional Life of Field units. The new Subsea and Conventional unit encompasses the full portfolio of services and products dedicated to the oil and gas industry that Subsea 7 has to offer including the integration of IRM and well intervention into the integrated field development solutions created by Subsea Integration Alliance to provide a holistic offering across the life cycle of client’s fields.
John Evans, Chief Executive Officer of Subsea 7, said, “In a challenging twelve months Subsea 7 responded well. The Covid-19 pandemic required radical changes to operations and had an adverse effect on the market for our oil and gas businesses. In response, we booked incremental operating costs, restructured our cost base, and recognised material impairments to goodwill and asset values. Yet, we continued to deliver projects to our clients, generated positive cash flow, reduced debt and increased our backlog. As a result of the efforts and dedication of our employees, we completed 20 projects in the year for 15 clients in 10 countries.”
These notable projects included continued work on BP’s Mad Dog 2 involving Seven Oceans and Seven Pacific; the completion of the Lape NE scope by Seven Seas in Brazil; several operations in the North Sea such as the completion of pipelay operations at Blythe; and the continued progress on the engineering and procurement phases of Sangomar in Senegal as well as Anchor, King’s Quay and Jack St Malo in the Gulf of Mexico.
Heading into 2021, with the pandemic in decline, Subsea 7 intends to continue progress on operations already underway and make up for the lost time suffered in 2020. In addition the company has been selected as the preferred supplier for several projects including Bacalhau, Scarborough, Pecan and Rovuma and was awarded a substantial contract by Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited (CABGOC) to construct and install the Lean Gas Platform (LGP) in Block-0 offshore Angola.
