The Top International Contractors and Design Firms: Going From Feast to Famine
...$150/bbl, which has resulted in a growing hesitancy among energy companies to commit to major projects. The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based autonomous agency linked with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, reported in November that as many as 80% of planned refinery projects could be put on hold in the wake of falling oil prices, falling demand and financial turmoil.
There is real concern that many major oil projects may stall. On Nov. 6, the Saudi Arabia Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) and ConocoPhillips announced a halt to the bidding process for construction of a planned 400,000-barrel-per-day export refinery at the Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. The firms cited the uncertainties in the financial and contracting markets as the reason. They plan to rebid the project in the second quarter of 2009.
Further, a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and France’s Total S.A. said in late November that it would delay some bidding on the 400,000-bbl-per-day refinery project at Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Both parties say they are committed to moving forward with the project. Press reports have said Kuwait’s greenfield Al-Zour Refinery complex project with a capacity of 615,000 bbl per day may be delayed as the Kuwaiti National Petroleum Co. is concerned about the projected $19-billion price tag.
Delayed projects in the oil market are not limited to the Middle East. On Oct. 30, U.S.-based Marathon Oil Co. announced it was in the process of reevaluating the construction schedule for its its $1.9-billion Detroit Heavy Oil Upgrading Project, which began in the second quarter of 2008. The company expects to stretch out the project completion date. The company currently is compiling the new project schedule and cost and expects to complete this analysis by year’s end.
| Volume | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOMESTIC | INTERNATIONAL | TOTAL | ||||
| $ BIL. | % CHG. | $ BIL. | % CHG. | $ BIL. | % CHG. | |
| REVENUE | 516.7 | +21.1 | 310.2 | +38.2 | 827.0 | +27.0 |
| NEW CONTRACTS | 561.8 | +22.6 | 420.0 | +39.9 | 981.8 | +29.4 |
| Profitability | ||||||
| NUMBER OF FIRMS REPORTING | AVERAGE % OF | |||||
| PROFIT | LOSS | PROFIT | LOSS | |||
| DOMESTIC | 154 | 20 | 7.2 | NA | ||
| INTERNATIONAL | 167 | 12 | 8.0 | NA | ||
| Professional Staff | ||||||
| NUMBER OF FIRMS REPORTING | AVERAGE % OF | |||||
| DOMESTIC | INT’L | DOMESTIC | INT’L | |||
| INCREASE | 121 | 131 | 18.7 | 36.2 | ||
| DECREASE | 13 | 9 | 10.9 | 15.3 | ||
| SAME | 62 | 47 | NA | NA | ||
| Backlog | ||||||
| NUMBER OF FIRMS REPORTING | AVERAGE % | |||||
| HIGHER | 167 | 44.8 | ||||
| LOWER | 11 | 11.7 | ||||
| SAME | 22 | NA | ||||
| Market Analysis | ||||||
| TYPE OF WORK | REVENUE $ MIL. | PERCENT OF TOTAL | ||||
| BUILDING | 73,955.0 | 23.8 | ||||
| MANUFACTURING | 7,081.3 | 2.3 | ||||
| INDUSTRIAL | 15,330.5 | 4.9 | ||||
| PETROLEUM | 80,039.9 | 25.8 | ||||
| WATER | 8,637.6 | 2.8 | ||||
| SEWER/WASTE | 4,818.7 | 1.6 | ||||
| TRANSPORTATION | 79,377.7 | 25.6 | ||||
| HAZARDOUS WASTE | 605.0 | 0.2 | ||||
| POWER | 17,180.6 | 5.5 | ||||
| TELECOMMUNICATIONS | 3,323.4 | 1.1 | ||||
| OTHER | 19,897.3 | 6.4 | ||||
| International Regions | ||||||
| NUMBER OF FIRMS | REVENUE $ MIL. | PERCENT OF TOTAL | ||||
| CANADA | 44 | 8,281.3 | 2.7 | |||
| U.S. | 63 | 36,906.1 | 11.9 | |||
| LATIN AMERICA | 92 | 19,249.6 | 6.2 | |||
| CARIBBEAN ISLANDS | 38 | 2,007.2 | 0.6 | |||
| EUROPE | 136 | 96,448.8 | 31.1 | |||
| MIDDLE EAST | 141 | 62,894.9 | 20.3 | |||
| ASIA/AUSTRALIA | 155 | 55,399.5 | 17.9 | |||
| NORTH AFRICA | 114 | 13,174.6 | 4.2 | |||
| SOUTH/CENTRAL AFRICA | 82 | 15,420.8 | 5.0 | |||
| OTHER | 4 | 464.0 | 0.1 | |||
| NA=NOT AVAILABLE | ||||||
On Nov. 17, Petro-Canada and the other partners in the Fort Hills Energy Limited Partnership in Calgary, Alberta, announced that they would defer final investment in the Sturgeon Upgrader Project, which was to expand oil-sands mining and production at Fort Mills near Fort McMurray. “We are giving ourselves some breathing room on the project schedule, so we can take advantage of a softening market to reduce costs,” says Ron Brenneman, CEO of Petro-Canada.
The credit crunch also is taking its toll on building projects around the world. On Nov. 30, Dubai-based developer...
