Keppel Corp sees “a challenging environment” for its offshore and marine division with the lower oil price and oversupply of rigs as the unit posted apre-tax profit of SGD1.37bn ($1.04bn) for 2014.

With the oil price hovering around just $45 per barrel shipowners may be rejoicing but for those in the offshore marine industry things are looking rather less promising.

Keppel Singmarine has secured a contract to build an ice-class multi-purpose vessel for New Orient Marine worth around SGD265m ($221.9m).

Keppel Singmarine has secured SGD65m ($51.9m) in contracts for the construction of an Anchor Handling Tug (AHT) and technical services for the construction of a liftboat.

Keppel Shipyard enjoyed a good end to 2014 formerly securing its second FLNG conversion from Golar LNG with a contract worth $705m becoming effective on the final day of the year.

Former Keppel Corp finance director Teo Soon Hoe died on Sunday.

Caterpillar Propulsion has been selected to supply three azimuth thrusters and one tunnel thruster plus electrical equipment, together with gensets, for a self-propelled jack-up liftboat being built in Qatar.

Emerging exploration and production company M3nergy this week launched its latest floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel at Keppel Shipyard and is set to make inroads into the Indonesian market.

Despite the recent fall in the oil price Keppel Corp remains confident about the outlook for its offshore and marine business, and continues to push into new areas such as FLNG conversions.

Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) has inked a contract with Gulf Drilling International (GDI) for a $227m jack-up rig with options for two more.