Unexpected delays for ‘Siem Helix 1’ in Brazil

American oil and gas services provider Helix Energy Solutions is still waiting for its 4-year well intervention contract with Petrobras for the vessel Siem Helix 1 to start after experiencing unexpected delays.

At the Capital One Securities 11th Annual Energy Conference on Wednesday, Helix said that its chartered vessel Siem Helix 1 was working through Petrobras’s inspection and acceptance process.

Helix’s Erik Staffeldt, Vice President – Finance and Accounting, said at the conference the company previously anticipated that Siem Helix 1 would start its contract around November 1, 2016.

“We have experienced unexpected delays,” Staffeldt said. “It is taking a lot longer than we had anticipated.”

According to the latest AIS data, Siem Helix 1 is currently located off Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro. Commercial operations are now expected to start in the first quarter of 2017.

The vessel’s contract was originally scheduled to begin no later than July 22, 2016, however, Helix and Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras agreed in June this year to delay two well intervention services contracts with a reduced dayrate for one contract.

Namely, the pair renegotiated the terms of the contracts for two Helix’s chartered vessels, the Siem Helix 1 and the Siem Helix 2. The new terms entailed for the first vessel’s contract to start between July 22, 2016, and October 21, 2016, while the second contract was amended to start between October 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017.

The agreement in June also reduced the dayrate for the Siem Helix 1.

Offshore Energy Today Staff