The Abu Dhabi-based oil services firm Gulf Marine Services (GMS) reported rising full-year profit despite the slide in the price of crude.
Profit rose 9 per cent to US$75.6 million as demand for its services remained strong in the UAE capital and wider Middle East region.
“We don’t operate at all in exploration business so our activity has sustained throughout [the drop in oil price],” said the chief executive Duncan Anderson. “Our backyard is really Abu Dhabi and there’s a lot of growth.”
The UAE made up just under half of the company’s $196.6m revenue for last year. Out of the firm’s 11 vessels, 63 per cent are contracted for use in the emirate – up from about 50 per cent from a year ago, according to Mr Duncan.
While many firms in the oil and gas industry are suffering because of the slump in oil prices, GMS has avoided the market volatility. All of its work providing self-propelled, self-elevating accommodation jackup barges comes from the operational expenditure (opex) budgets of big oil and gas companies, rather than their capital expenditure (capex) budgets.
Mr Anderson said the company’s backlog, totalling $700m, was mainly derived from national oil companies in the Middle East based on operational expenditures.
“Some of our competition is more capex-based, which can be more than 50 per cent,” he said. “The problem is when oil prices go down, capex is cut.”
GMS will continue to grow through 2016 with its two-year fleet expansion programme, increasing its fleet by two thirds to 15 vessels.
While GMS does not provide drilling rigs, its vessels are often able to perform similar tasks less expensively. Drilling rigs can cost about $80,000 a day, while jackup vessels provided by GMS can cost $40,000 to $50,000.
GMS shares rose as much as 3.75 per cent in early London trading yesterday.
lgraves@thenational.ae
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