International Maritime Associates (IMA) is a firm of business consultants specializing in market analysis and strategic planning for companies in the marine and offshore sectors.
We provide
February 14, 2019
Jim McCaul — IMA/World Energy Reports has just completed a twelve month detailed assessment of the floating liquefaction and regasification market. The 150+ page study examines future market opportunitiesFebruary 12, 2019
Jim McCaul — Floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) are by far the most popular type of floating production system. They account for two thirds of the oil/gas production floaters nowApril 15, 2017
Jim McCaul -- Orders for production floaters have finally begun to flow. The break came early this year when contracts for a production semi for use in the GOM and an FPSO for use off Malaysia were awarded.December 12, 2016
Jim McCaul -- Donald Trump’s presidential win and Republican sweep of the US government in November – along with OPEC’s oil production cuts in December -- have injected new dynamics into the US energyApril 28, 2016
Jim McCaul -- No question that the market for new floating production systems has taken a battering. The past 12 to 18 months have been a difficult period for everyone in the business sector. Absence ofby Jim McCaul 15 February 2019
US crude inventory has been hovering between 430 and 450 million barrels since early December. Current US inventory is at the top of this range, around 6% above the five year average for this time of year.
Increasing US crude production is at least partially responsible for the above average inventory. Crude production in the US is now 25% higher than the average production over the past five years. Friction in the delivery chain will cause the inventory level to increase as total production increases.
There are indications that crude supply is beginning to decrease. US shale producers have cut back on production, crude imports in the US over the past four weeks are down 11.2% from last year and tanker tracking data indicate a decline in Saudi crude shipments.
Meanwhile, Brent crude has traded in the range of $53 to $66 since the beginning of the year. As of 15 February Brent is trading around $66.50, the high thus far for 2019.
Market sentiment has turned positive -- for the time being. Most analysts expect that the OPEC+ supply curtailment deal will ultimately rebalance supply and demand and provide support for higher oil prices. The Saudis are targeting getting crude prices back to the $80 range.
But a bill in the US Congress to enable the Justice Department to sue OPEC+ members for antitrust violations has the potential to disrupt OPEC efforts to limit oil supply. Penalties for collusion under the Sherman Antitrust Act are draconian -- and if the "No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act" law is enacted oil pricing could become volatile.
And slowing Chinese economic growth + weaknesses in the European economies add to the difficulty in bringing crude demand and supply back into balance.
Jim is the founder and manager of IMA, a consulting firm providing market analysis, competitive benchmarking and business planning support in the maritime and offshore sectors. Over the past 40 years IMA has performed more than 350 business consulting assignments for 170+ clients in 40+ countries.
One of the firm’s specialties is analyzing requirements for floating production systems. IMA has published more than 60 reports since 1996 analyzing this business sector and has been engaged by numerous clients to assist in analyzing specific market opportunities in the floating production sector.
Jim is also the co-founder of IMA/World Energy Reports, a New York based business intelligence service for the floating production supply chain.
2019 Annual Outlook. Our new 150-page report is the first professional effort to systematically look at the universe of FLNG and FSRU projects in the planning stage – and categorize the likelihood of each making the development investment hurdle. Many FLNG and FSRU projects are planned – but only some will ultimately will move forward to development. The goal of our report is to objectively sort out likely winners and losers – and explain the rationale for the rating.
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February 20, 2019
Babcock said it has been awarded a four-year framework contract for brownfield fabrication…February 19, 2019
A total of 33 floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels will be…February 18, 2019
Global FPSO provider Yinson Holdings Berhad said its wholly-owned unit has been…Oil prices in have rebounded to the low $60s as the OPEC+ supply curtailment deal starts to rebalance the market. But residual high crude inventory and fears of slowing oil demand growth continue to pressure oil prices and dampen upstream investment sentiment. Looking back, 2018 was a relatively good year for production floater orders. Contracts for nine FPSOs, a production semi, two production barges, two FLNGs and more than a half dozen FSRUs were placed during the year.
February 20, 2019
Trump open to extending March 1 deadline for China trade talks.Crude prices rose nearly 2 percent on Wednesday, with Brent…February 20, 2019
A consortium led by Repsol has found new gas resources in Indonesia estimated at at least 2 trillion cubic feet, the Spanish…February 20, 2019
Babcock said it has been awarded a four-year framework contract for brownfield fabrication and modification projects on the BW Catcher…