Oil firms drill for deepwater profits

With global demand for oil showing no sign of abating, the industry is going to ever greater lengths to secure supplies.

Tall as a nine-storey building and as long as two tennis courts, the anchor handling vessel is the work horse of the offshore oil industry.

The entire deepwater exploration and drilling industry has boomed in the last few years, driven by a persistent rise in oil prices.

Take Ezra Holdings.

The firm runs the largest fleet of anchor handling ships among Singapore’s listed companies. Known in the industry as tug boats, the vessels tow and anchor massive oil rigs deep into the ocean floor.

Ezra’s profits more than doubled so far this year.

The firm plans to double the size of its fleet by the end of 2007 to take advantage of demand for its services.

BBC