Keppel Corp

Keppel Corp: Barclays views the order for 2 semi-submersibles by Ukraine's Naftogaz may mark a new wave of orders for drillships. House believes the outlook for semi-submersible orders remains robust, despite the strong wave of orders for drillships in 2012. They expect potential new orders to come from other national oil companies, including Norway's Statoil, Mexico's Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, and Azerbaijan's Socar. With harsh-environment regions, such as the North Sea, Black Sea and Caspian Sea, requiring harsh-environment semi-submersibles, we expect the pause in semi-submersible orders to only be temporary. Positive for both Keppel Corp and Sembcorp Marine, which has faced a wave of selling pressure recently amid lower margin expectations and greater competition from Chinese and Korean yards.