USC plans to sign contract with Exxon for construction of 15 platforms by fall 2013
MOSCOW. May 23. (Interfax) - Russian state-owned OJSC United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) plans to enter into a contract with oil company Exxon to build 15 drilling platforms by the fall of 2013, USC's President Roman Trotsenko told journalists at the Marine Industry of Russia forum.
"An agreement has been signed with Exxon. Over the next year and three months, they will finish seismic survey, and we will finish the cost estimation for the project. By the fall of 2013, the agreement should be translated into a contract," he said.
There are plans to build 15 platforms as part of the first phase, "and overall there are plans to build up to 50 oil platforms for the Caspian Sea," he said. "This will be the largest order in shipbuilding," he added. One platform will cost roughly $800 million. "Our part of the work is roughly half, $400 million," Trotsenko said.
USC also expects to see its order from OJSC Sovcomflot increase. Right now, the corporation is building just two support vessels for Sovcomflot; however, according to the protocol, if the vessels are delivered on time, Sovcomflot will order another 25. One specialized ship costs about $100 million, with the first planned for transfer in December, he said.
Right now, USC's order book (excluding the Severodvinsk plant Sevmash) is worth about $15 billion, and all of its enterprises have been contracted for two years. As for Sevmash, there are expectations that contracts will be signed to build Borey class nuclear submarines in the near future, he said.
USC, established in 2007, is the largest shipbuilding holding in Russia. It contains over 50 enterprises and industry organizations (the primary shipbuilding and ship repair yards, leading design and engineering bureaus). Around 70% of Russia's shipbuilding complex is currently consolidated on the basis of USC. All of the corporation's shares are federal property.