Schlumberger, Aker Solutions, and Subsea 7 will form a joint venture bringing together a portfolio of technologies such as subsea gas compression, all-electric subsea production systems, and other electrification capabilities that help customers meet their decarbonization goals and drive innovation and efficiency in subsea production.
The proposed joint venture will combine Schlumberger’s and Aker Solutions’ subsea businesses, which include deep reservoir domain and engineering design, subsea production and processing technology, manufacturing scale and capabilities, and a suite of life-of-field solutions for global customers. Subsea 7 will be an equity partner in the new joint venture.
“As investment in the offshore market—particularly in deep water—continues to increase, our customers will benefit from enhanced services that leverage digital and technological innovation to drive improved subsea asset performance while increasing energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions,” said Schlumberger Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch. “We look forward to collaborating with both Aker Solutions and our subsea integration partner Subsea 7 on this new venture.”
At closing of the joint venture, the Subsea Integration Alliance between Schlumberger and Subsea 7 will be amended so that the new joint venture will assume Schlumberger’s role in the Alliance, which will be renewed for a 10-year term.
In addition to contributing its subsea business to the joint venture, Schlumberger will issue to Aker Solutions shares of Schlumberger common stock valued at $306.5 million in a private placement. Concurrently, Subsea 7 will purchase its 10% interest in exchange for $306.5 million in cash to Aker Solutions. The joint venture also will issue a promissory note to Aker Solutions for $87.5 million.
“In the second quarter (2022), international offshore was accretive to our growth,” said Le Peuch during a conference call with investors. “If you read some of the reports published by EIA and others, you see that the outlook for 2022–2025 on offshore investments and FID activity will outpace visibly the 2016–2019 cycle. So, we have early innings of this offshore cycle, but it's quite interesting. And it includes more exploration and more appraisal activity than we could have anticipated considering some of the macro, but we are seeing it from Namibia to Colombia to Asia. We are seeing interesting exploration happening to north of Brazil in the Atlantic Margin. We are seeing acceleration of appraisal and exploration that combine and increase the beneficiary mix that we are seeing in the offshore environment.”
At closing of the joint venture, ownership will be held by Schlumberger (70%), Aker Solutions (20%), and Subsea 7 (10%). The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2023.
