Petrobras cancels 5 vessel contracts

RIO DE JANEIRO, September 22, 2015 – Petrobras has cancelled contracts for five platform-supply vessels from two providers.

Ultrapetrol Bahamas saw the early termination of three contracts, while World Wide Supply lost two, the companies said on Monday.

The contract cuts come as the Brazilian oil giant scales back investments in response to the oil price slump.

Petrobras is a major player in deepwater production, but high-cost offshore operations have been among the areas to see cuts after the company’s June announcement of severe spending decreases that reduced investments by $221 billion over five years.

Ultrapetrol has six supply vessels contracted to Petrobras and says it will seek to renegotiate the contracts or look for other markets for the ships.

World Wide Supply has informed investors that Petrobras does not intend to pay $3 million in backlog costs related to the contracts.

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