High demand for floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units are likely to continue for a while.
About 15-20 orders for FPSOs may be contracted annually over the next few years as owners invest in on growing demand, according to Malaysian investment bank.
Maybank IB say FPSO market's upward trend is expected to continue for the next five years as utilisation is high and idle units are virtually nonexistent.
Of the 200 to 250 energy projects that will require aid from an FPSO, Maybank believes 100 to 140 will likely need 20 to 28 units every 12 months amid rising demand in the Asia Pacific and Latin America.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's Bumi Armada (BA) seems to have a fleet expansion plan, “BA will likely double its FPSO assets, triple its SURF vessels and add up to eight new OSV vessels to its fleet by 2015,” the bank said.