Teekay looking to expand shuttle tanker fleet

The company has 11 shuttle tankers in Brazil and operates 35 of these tankers globally through its subsidiary Teekay Offshore Partners. “We can move our tankers to where they can earn maximum revenue, and we are planning to build our business in Brazil further,” Moller said. “Brazil is clearly the biggest growth market in the near future” in offshore oil production.

Oil production in Brazil will rise 7.2 percent this year to 2.67 million barrels a day, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency. Production in Norway, which also produces oil from offshore fields, will fall 7.6 percent to 2.2 million barrels a day, the agency said in a monthly report on 13 April.

Teekay’s offshore fleet last year resisted the worst economic recession since the last WW2 with revenue from the tanker segment slumping by 40 percent to $229.2 million in the fourth quarter, while revenue from the offshore segment fell 5.5 percent to $178.8 million.

Two new shuttle tankers are scheduled to be delivered to Teekay in the second half of this year and two more in the first half of next year. “Brazil is currently looking for additional tankers, and Teekay has the option of offering existing vessels or new vessels,” Moller said. Teekay may also “order other newbuildings for Brazil.”