Partner Article

Wellstream set back by Gulf crisis

OIL and gas pipeline maker Wellstream issued a profits warning yesterday as it blamed BP’s crisis in the Gulf of Mexico for ongoing market uncertainty.

The Tyneside firm, which employs 850 in Brazil, the US, Australia and at its Walker headquarters, announced a new contract for its Braziliian operation with OGX Petroleo e Gas (OGX) yesterday, adding to the £100m-plus of new contracts won this year.

However, while yesterday’s trading statement showed strength in the Brazilian market, it also highlighted “smaller awards and a continued lack of visibility” in Asia, Africa and the North Sea.

“Some uncertainty has been introduced by recent events in the Gulf of Mexico,” the company said..

The firm said the recovery it had previously predicted for the second half of 2010 now looked slower than expected and “may result in some profit being delayed into 2011”.

Wellstream said: “The potential for significant growth in Brazil is clear and the fundamentals underpinning growth elsewhere across our markets remain unchanged.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .