Interfax quoted Mr Roman Trotsenko USC President as saying that Russian state owned OJSC United Shipbuilding Corporation plans to enter into a contract with oil company Exxon to build 15 drilling platforms by the fall of 2013.

He said that "An agreement has been signed with Exxon. Over the next year and three months, they will finish seismic survey, and we will finish the cost estimation for the project. By the fall of 2013, the agreement should be translated into a contract."

He added that there are plans to build 15 platforms as part of the first phase and overall there are plans to build up to 50 oil platforms for the Caspian Sea. He also said "This will be the largest order in shipbuilding," he added. One platform will cost roughly USD 800 million. Our part of the work is roughly half, USD 400 million."

Mr Roman Trotsenko said USC also expects to see its order from OJSC Sovcomflot increase. Right now, the corporation is building just two support vessels for Sovcomflot, however, according to the protocol, if the vessels are delivered on time, Sovcomflot will order another 25. One specialized ship costs about USD 100 million with the first planned for transfer in December.

He said that right now, USC order book is worth about USD 15 billion, and all of its enterprises have been contracted for two years. As for Sevmash, there are expectations that contracts will be signed to build Borey class nuclear submarines in the near future.

Source - Interfax

(www.steelguru.com)