This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 6, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd seems to be feeling the heat of the slowdown in the upstream activities in the oil and gas industry in the current low oil price environment.

The company announced yesterday it had deferred the delivery of Perisai Pacific 102 jack-up drilling rig to no later than March 31, 2016. The rig was originally set for delivery on April 30 this year.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Perisai said it had agreed with PPL Shipyard Pte Ltd to defer the delivery date of Perisai Pacific 102. However, no reasons were given for the postponement.

Perisai said the postponement will not affect the share capital of the company, saying it is expected to contribute positively to the group’s earnings and net assets upon deployment of the rig.

All other contractual terms remain, it noted.

The Perisai Pacific 102 is under construction at the PPL Shipyard in Singapore.

Upon completion, it will be managed by Hercules Offshore Inc.

The abrupt halt on most exploration and development of new fields by the oil majors has resulted in a drop in demand for oil rigs worldwide and slide in charter rates for oil rigs. Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) acknowledged that only 14 of its oil rigs would be in operation by year end compared with 39 as at end-2014.

Interestingly, Perisai’s earnings for the six months ended June 30 remained intact, thanks to the contribution from the commencement of drilling operations in August last year with the new-build jack-up drilling rig — Perisai Pacific 101.

For the six-month period, the company posted a net profit of RM8.6 million compared to a net loss of RM2.02 million. Revenue soared to RM110.38 million against RM21.64 million in the previous corresponding period.

Perisai Petroleum shares closed 0.5 sen higher at 34 sen, with a market capitalisation of RM405.53 million.