Asia offshore capex forecast to increase 77%

Aug. 19, 2009
With an estimated capex of over $97 billion through 2009 to 2013, Asia is expected to witness an increase of 77% in terms of capex when compared to the previous five-year period, according to Infield’s second edition Regional Perspectives Asia Pacific Market Update Report 2009/13.

Offshore staff

LONDON -- With an estimated capex of over $97 billion through 2009 to 2013, Asia is expected to witness an increase of 77% in terms of capex when compared to the previous five-year period, according to Infield’s second edition Regional Perspectives Asia Pacific Market Update Report 2009/13. Asia is expected to represent the second largest share of the global capex spend.

The report says the Australasian offshore market is expected to grow rapidly in terms of capex, with over a three-fold increase forecasted for the 2009 to 2013 period compared to the previous five-year period. It is expected that Australia will have $26.8 billion total capex over the five-year period 2009-2013, the highest in the region, representing 94% of the total capex.

In Asia, the most prominent risk is the lack of liquidity in the markets, Infield says. This essentially sees operators unable to raise the finance to develop fields, a problem which could be made more acute in Asia where many operators are independents. In Australasia, large independent operators have dominated the capex spend of the previous five-year period. This trend is set to continue, with increasing contribution from a number of the major integrated oil companies, such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell, Infield says.

08/19/2009