Petrofac and Lamprell, two oil and gas contractors with large rig-building and repair yards in the Emirates, have lined up almost US$9 billion (Dh33.05bn) in orders as drilling activity picks up.
Most oil and gas service companies are seeing their earnings improve this year due to the earlier rebound in oil prices. As their order books start to fill, the companies expect a strong finish to the year.
"We have achieved an order intake of approximately $2bn in the year to date, which, together with our healthy prospects list, gives us confidence that we will grow our backlog over the calendar year," Ayman Asfari, the chief executive of Petrofac, said yesterday.
The UK-based company posted a profit on continuing operations of $206.3 million for the first half of this year, up 42 per cent from the same period last year.
Its first-half net profit of $331.9m included a one-off gain of $125.6m on the spin-off of EnQuest, a company formed to take over Petrofac's North Sea exploration assets.
"Given our strong start to the year, we expect to deliver like-for-like net profit growth for the full year, excluding the gain on the EnQuest de-merger, of around 20 per cent," Mr Asfari predicted.
Petrofac, which derives most of its revenue from designing and building oil and gas infrastructure, said its backlog stood at about $8bn after expanding by $1.1bn this month and last.
Lamprell, a UAE firm that builds and refurbishes drilling rigs and this year started building vessels to install offshore wind turbines, yesterday reported a first-half net profit of $39.7m, up 25.1 per cent from the same period last year.
The firm also reinstated its interim dividend with a proposed payout of 3.8 cents a share. It cancelled the dividend last year, as oil companies delayed work orders during the downturn.
"This has been a busy and successful period for Lamprell operationally during which we have won a number of significant new contract awards, in excess of $890m," said Nigel McCue, the chief executive.
"We continue to see a high level of interest for the wide spectrum of new build services we offer, and our proposals pipeline remains strong."
Lamprell's profits rose despite a 27.2 per cent drop in revenue to $189.3m and a 38.9 per cent decline to $19.3m in profit from continuing operations.
Those results excluded a $23.9m one-off gain related to the cancellation of a contract with the troubled Norwegian firm Riginvest.
But the work order has been transferred to Abu Dhabi's National Drilling Company, which last month ordered new rigs from Lamprell.
"Encouragingly, we are now beginning to see some signs of recovery in our operating markets and, importantly, our efforts to diversify the scope of our operating markets are beginning to bear fruit," said Jonathan Silver, the chairman of Lamprell.
Mr Silver said the company's backlog of $836m was substantially higher than a year ago but he cautioned that markets for oil and gas contractors were becoming more competitive due to new entrants from South East Asia offering "extremely low prices and on very favourable payment terms".
"We cannot become complacent," he said. "Inevitably, margins have and are expected to continue to come under pressure."
Lamprell would target Iraq and other Middle East countries as well as India for further contract awards in the medium term, Mr Silver indicated.
Last month Halliburton, the world's second-largest oilfield services corporation, posted a 70 per cent increase in second-quarter profit from continuing operations to $474m, compared with the same period last year, while revenue rose 17 per cent to $4.4bn.
"Our international results reflect the anticipated seasonal recovery of markets in the eastern hemisphere and improved activity in Latin America," said Dave Lesar, the chairman, president and chief executive of the company.
This week, Halliburton and Petrofac confirmed they had won contracts in Iraq.
Halliburton was chosen to drill 15 wells to boost production from the country's largest oilfield, Rumaila. Petrofac is to build oil-processing plants at the field.
@Email:tcarlisle@thenational.ae
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
RESULTS
Time; race; prize; distance
4pm: Maiden; (D) Dh150,000; 1,200m
Winner: General Line, Xavier Ziani (jockey), Omar Daraj (trainer)
4.35pm: Maiden (T); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Travis County, Adrie de Vries, Ismail Mohammed
5.10pm: Handicap (D); Dh175,000; 1,200m
Winner: Scrutineer, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
5.45pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Yulong Warrior, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
6.20pm: Maiden (D); Dh150,000; 1,600m
Winner: Ejaaby, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson
6.55pm: Handicap (D); Dh160,000; 1,600m
Winner: Storyboard, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap (D); Dh150,000; 2,200m
Winner: Grand Dauphin, Gerald Mosse, Ahmed Al Shemaili
8.05pm: Handicap (T); Dh190,000; 1,800m
Winner: Good Trip, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Red Sparrow
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons
Three stars
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULT
Manchester United 2 Burnley 2
Man United: Lingard (53', 90' 1)
Burnley: Barnes (3'), Defour (36')
Man of the Match: Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
Stage 3 results
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 4:42:33
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:30
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:56
General Classification after Stage 3:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 12:30:02
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:35
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Team Sunweb) 0:02:06
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court (4pm UAE/12pm GMT)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Heather Watson (GBR)
Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) v Karen Khachanov (RUS x30)
Andy Murray (GBR x1) v Fabio Fognini (ITA x28)
Court 1 (4pm UAE)
Steve Johnson (USA x26) v Marin Cilic (CRO x7)
Johanna Konta (GBR x6) v Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA x10)
Court 2 (2.30pm UAE)
Aljaz Bedene (GBR) v Gilles Muller (LUX x16)
Peng Shuai (CHN) v Simona Halep (ROM x2)
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x13) v Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) v Sam Querrey (USA x24)
Court 3 (2.30pm UAE)
Kei Nishikori (JPN x9) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x18)
Carina Witthoeft (GER) v Elina Svitolina (UKR x4)
Court 12 (2.30pm UAE)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x8) v Ana Konjuh (CRO x27)
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)
Court 18 (2.30pm UAE)
Caroline Garcia (FRA x21) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Benoit Paire (FRA) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
Avatar%20(2009)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Cameron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESam%20Worthington%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Sigourney%20Weaver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Abu Dhabi race card
5pm Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
5.30pm Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
6pm Abu Dhabi Championship Listed | Dh180,000 | 1,600m
6.30pm Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,400m
7.30pm Handicap (TB) |Dh100,000 | 2,400m
Opening Rugby Championship fixtures: Games can be watched on OSN Sports
Saturday: Australia v New Zealand, Sydney, 1pm (UAE)
Sunday: South Africa v Argentina, Port Elizabeth, 11pm (UAE)
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.