Saipem Believes It Is Approaching ‘Turning Point’ in Offshore Drilling

In a conference call focused on Saipem’s nine month results, Saipem CEO and General Manager Alessandro Puliti said the company believes it is “approaching the turning point in the offshore drilling market, particularly in … deepwater activities”.

“We expect to see a significant ramp-up in demand from the second half of 2026 onwards,” Puliti said in the call, a transcript of which was posted on Saipem’s website recently.

Focusing on the company’s offshore drilling activity and recent awards in the call, Puliti highlighted that “the DVD will start operating for Eni in Indonesia toward the end of 2025”.

“This is the beginning of a new chapter for the unit, which has operated in West Africa for about two years. We see strong potential for long-term drilling campaigning for DVD in Indonesia,” he added.

Puliti also noted that “the Scarabeo 9 semi-sub remains focused in the Mediterranean Sea and has recently moved from Egypt to Libya, where she has started operating for Eni”.

“The Santorini drill ship will continue to operate in West Africa for Eni in Ghana and in the Ivory Coast before moving to the Mediterranean Sea to work for Energean,” he added.

“Lastly, the Scarabeo semisub received a 12-month extension from Aker BP in Norway and will now continue to operate in the country until the end of 2027,” he continued.

“In shallow water, we are also engaged in constructive discussion with Eni in Mexico on the Perro Negro 10 unit,” he said.

Looking at the company’s “key financials” of the third quarter, Puliti noted that, in Q3, Saipem “delivered revenues of EUR 3.8 billion [$4.3 billion], with a growth of 1.6 percent year on year and 2.1 percent sequentially”.

“EBITDA stood at EUR 437 million [$503 million], growing 28.5 percent year on year and 5.8 percent sequentially,” he added.

“In Q3 2025, we posted the highest quarterly EBITDA since 2012. From a balance sheet perspective, we ended the quarter with a stable net cash positive pre-IFRS of EUR 844 million [$972 million] in line with the guidance communicated,” he continued.

“Order intake stood at EUR 3.2 billion [$3.6 billion] in Q3, representing a book-to-bill of 0.9 and an acceleration compared to the previous two quarters. We expect this momentum to continue into Q4,” he went on to state.

Puliti pointed out in the call that the company’s revenue “has kept on climbing up over the last four years on the back of the growth in backlog and supported by our steady execution”.

“EBITDA has also constantly increased due to the quality of the new awards and to the reduced weight of legacy projects,” he said.

“The shifting mix toward offshore E&C 2 and the progress made on the legacy backlog has resulted in EBITDA margin more than doubling and getting close to the 12 percent mark,” he added.

“As seen in previous years, we expect the fourth quarter to be seasonally strong also in 2025. In the first nine months of the year, cash conversion remains close to 90 percent, having generated an operating cash flow almost equal to what we delivered in the full year 2024,” he went on to state.

In its third quarter and nine month results statement, which was posted on its website, Saipem said “the trend of improvement in operational, economic, and financial performance that started in 2022 continues in the third quarter of 2025”.

“Revenue for the first nine months of 2025 stood at EUR 11 billion [$12.6 billion], growing by 8.4 percent compared to the previous year, and EBITDA reached EUR 1.2 billion [$1.3 billion], increasing by 32.7 percent,” it added, pointing out that “net result grew by 7.3 percent to EUR 221 million [$254 million]”.

“In the same period, the Net Financial Position improved by EUR 161 million [$185 million], even accounting for the payment of EUR 333 million [$383 million] of dividends,” Saipem noted in the statement.

“The order intake amounts to EUR 7.5 billion [$8.3 billion] in the first nine months of 2025, maintaining the backlog value above EUR 30 billion [$34.5 billion],” it continued.

In a statement posted on its site on October 21, Saipem said it had strengthened its offshore drilling order intake with new contract awards and extensions worth a total amount of approximately $135 million, “further reinforcing its presence in key strategic areas such as West Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Far East”.

In another statement posted on its site on October 15, Saipem announced that it, in consortium with BOS Shelf LLC and BOS Shelf International FZCO, had been awarded three new offshore contracts for the Shah Deniz Compression project operated by BP in Azerbaijan. The overall value of the contracts is approximately $700 million and Saipem’s share amounts to $600 million, the company highlighted in that statement.

Saipem describes itself on its website as a global leader in the engineering and construction of major projects for the energy and infrastructure sectors, both offshore and onshore. The company states on its site that it is present in more than 50 countries around the world and employs about 30,000 people of over 130 nationalities.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com