Mitsui & Co., Ltd., together with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. to acquire a stake in AKOFS Offshore AS, which is affiliated with Aker Group, a major Norway-based company in the offshore oil and gas industry. As a result, Mitsui and MOL will hold 25% stakes in AKOFS, respectively. Mitsui's total investment will amount to approximately 8 billion yen, in addition to the contribution in-kind of the vessel owning and leasing company that has been jointly operated by Mitsui, MOL, and AKOFS since November 2016.
AKOFS operates three subsea support vessels, which engage in installation of the subsea facilities that are essential for subsea oil and gas production, as well as subsea well intervention and completion. All of those vessels are capable of operating in waters up to a depth of over 2,000 meters, of which two vessels (including Skandi Santos) have been chartered by Petrobras, a Brazilian state-run oil company, and one vessel is slated to be chartered by Equinor Energy AS (former Statiol Petroleum AS).
With the growing global need for a reduction in oil and gas development and production costs, Mitsui will contribute to reducing such costs by realizing highly efficient operations with the subsea support vessels. In this regard, Mitsui has agreed with Aker Group and MOL to pursue opportunities for further expanded collaboration from a long-term perspective.
Mitsui has positioned the machinery and infrastructure area as one of its core business areas, aiming to establish a robust earnings platform. In the offshore energy field, in addition to the existing floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) business and drillship business, Mitsui has designated the subsea-related business as a new priority area. Envisioning its future contribution to resource development in Japan's exclusive economic zone, Mitsui will further promote offshore-related business.
About Mitsui
Mitsui & Co.'s five principal functions are marketing, financing, logistics, risk management, and IT and process development capabilities. We combine these functions to create and optimize value chains in a wide range of business fields. Maximizing our value-added content, we strive to meet the diverse needs of our customers around the world.
About AKOFS Offshore
AKOFS Offshore, headquartered in Oslo, Norway, is a global provider of vessel based subsea well intervention and installation services to the oil and gas industry. In addition to the AKOFS Seafarer, the company is operating two specialized vessels for Petrobras in Brazil on long term contracts. The Skandi Santos has successfully performed subsea intervention and equipment installation work since 2010, and Aker Wayfarer commenced similar operations early 2018.
About Akastor
Akastor is a Norway-based oil-services investment company with a portfolio of industrial holdings and other investments. The company has a flexible mandate for active ownership and long-term value creation.