TechnipFMC Plays Key Role in $139 Billion in Active Projects, with Major Plants to Wrap Up this Year

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--TechnipFMC plc (London, England), a global provider of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, saw rough waters in 2017 as demand wavered for its subsea oil and gas services, and weak commodity process continued to hit its bottom line. Nonetheless, several key projects in the Chemical Processing Industry are set to be fully or substantially completed this year. Industrial Info is tracking $138.7 billion in active projects involving TechnipFMC, including $38.7 billion worth that are set to begin construction and $45.4 billion that are set to finish construction in 2018.

TechnipFMC expects capital expenditures for 2018 to total about $300 million. The company's capital expenditures were reported to be $255.7 million for 2017, compared with $312.9 million in 2016.

One of TechnipFMC's most ambitious projects is set to begin production later this year, after almost four years of construction: Sasol Limited's (NYSE:SSL) (Johannesburg, South Africa) $11.2 billion Lake Charles Chemical Project (LCCP) in Westlake, Louisiana. TechnipFMC is providing EPC services on all major aspects of LCCP, including a 1.5 million-metric-ton-per-year ethylene unit, a 420,000-metric-ton-per-year low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit, a 450,000-metric-ton-per-year linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit, and a 300,000-ton-per-year ethylene oxide (EO) and ethylene glycol (EG) unit.

Sasol recently announced that the project was 81% complete, and the company plans to start up the first units in the second half of 2018. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the ethylene unit addition, LDPE unit addition, LLDPE unit addition and EO/EG unit addition, and February 27, 2018, article - Sasol Maintains Focus on Louisiana Petchem Project, 81% Complete.

TechnipFMC's Stone & Webster Process Technology subsidiary expects to begin engineering work soon on DowDuPont Incorporated's (NYSE:DWDP) (Midland, Michigan) $450 million expansion of the Texas 9 unit at its Oyster Creek Chemical complex in Freeport, Texas. The subsidary completed a 3 billion-pound-per-year ethylene unit addition last year and is now assisting Dow in expanding the Texas 9 unit by 1.1 billion pounds per year. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Subsea Projects Take Center Stage in Backlog
The company's backlog stands at $12.98 billion, compared with $16.74 billion at the end of 2016; the decline was attributed partly to a number of projects coming online. Nearly half of the 2017 total is in TechnipFMC's subsea business--$6.2 billion, with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.3; a ratio of more than 1 indicates a company has a demand for orders that exceeds what it can immediately supply. Executives said in a quarterly earnings-related conference call that $3.4 billion of this backlog can be executed in 2018.

TechnipFMC is a contractor on several major offshore drilling projects underway in North America, such as Husky Energy Incorporated's (TSX:HSE) (Calgary, Alberta) $2.2 billion West White Rose Project offshore Newfoundland, which is expected to begin producing up to 75,000 barrels per day in 2022. TechnipFMC recently completed work on Exxon Mobil Corporation's (NYSE:XOM) (ExxonMobil) (Irving, Texas) $4 billion subsea production system in the Gulf of Mexico's Julia Field, which is producing 34,000 barrels per day (BBL/d).

Exxon's project involved drilling four wells and installing a subsea tie-back system to its Jack/St. Malo platform, while Husky's involves constructing a concrete gravity-based structure (CGS) with a topsides, drilling facilities, wellheads and support services, including accommodations for up to 144 persons. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Julia Field and West White Rose projects.

TechnipFMC's revenues for the year stood at $15.01 billion, a 21% decrease from 2016, while net income was reported to be $113.3 million, a 70% decrease. Executives noted the company incurred a charge of $138.2 million from the tax law passed last year by the U.S. Congress, which accounted for much of the year-over-year decline.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.