KUALA LUMPUR: MISC Bhd is expected to be more open for new floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) jobs after its Marechal Duque de Caxias FPSO (Mero-3) had undergone commissioning phase following six months of delay from its initial deadline.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) said the projects MISC is looking at will likely be floaters for one of the oil fields which Petrobras will be dishing out.such as FPSOs for Barracuda-Caratinga, Marlim Sul-Marlim Leste, as well as two floaters for Sergipe-Alagoas basin.
"As Mero-3 marks the first large deep-water FPSO in Brazil for MISC, it opens doors for new FPSO projects with complexity and scale of such.
"Our checks indicate that MISC is bidding for new FPSO projects in Brazil, which were not qualified pre-Mero 3 and does not rule out participating in new projects in Africa," it said.
Following six months of delay from its initial deadline, the Mero-3 is finally undergoing the commissioning phase and is poised to be the first FPSO to directly transit to Brazil from China.
"We understand the completion rate of Mero-3 currently stands at 93.5 per cent as physical construction has been completed but pending offshore commissioning at Brazil.
"We were guided that the official sail-away of Mero-3 will be on Feb 18 and will then take 87 days to arrive at the Mero-pre salt field in the Santos basin, offshore Brazil in mid-May.
"Thereafter, hook-up and commissioning works will then be performed to obtain provisional acceptance," it said in a note.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, HLIB stated MISC will likely gain one month of standby charter in July while awaiting first oil to be achieved in August – leading to final acceptance and recognition of the bareboat charter.
"We estimate the charter rate of Mero-3 to be at US$700,000 per day."
It maintained "Hold" on the stock with a target price of RM7.48.