Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the Opening of CGG Veritas Asia Pacific Headquarters

Speech by Mr Lee Yi Shyan Minister of State for Trade and Industry at the opening of CGG Veritas Asia Pacific Headquarters on 17 January 2008 at 11:30am at Serangoon North Avenue 5

Mr Robert Brunck, Chairman and CEO, CGGVeritas

Mr Thierry Le Roux, President and COO,

Mr Luc Benoît-Cattin, President East Hemisphere,

Mr Cameron Astill, Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific Region

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen

A very good morning,

Introduction

I am delighted to be here today for the official Opening of CGGVeritas’ new facility. Your decision to merge and expand your Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore marks a significant milestone for both CGGVeritas and Singapore.

Singapore: A Major Oil & Gas Equipment and Services Hub for the Region

The Oil & Gas Exploration and Production industry is currently undergoing an unprecedented boom. Tightness in supply has pushed up oil prices. Producing countries and companies are pouring in investments in search of new oil and gas fields. Being well-situated and well connected in Asia Pacific, Singapore is in a unique position to support the growth of the energy. 

Already Singapore is a world leader in the manufacture of jack up rigs, and in the conversion of supertankers to Floating Production Storage Offloading vessels. We now account for 70 per cent of the global market share in both segments. We have also built up a strong reputation in semi-submersibles with about 60 per cent of the global market share.

On the back of robust growth of the oil and gas industry, the Marine & Offshore manufacturing sector saw a 31 per cent growth in the first three quarters of 2007.In the area of oilfield services, including equipment repair services, project coordination, engineering services, technical and training support as well as IT services, Singapore continues to retain its lead. I am very happy that major upstream oil and gas players, including CGGVeritas, continue to choose Singapore for its operations. This is testimony to Singapore’s attractiveness as a leading Oil & Gas Equipment and Services Hub for the region.

Strengthening Singapore’s Key Competitive Advantages to Ride the O&G Boom

To support the continued growth of the oil and gas equipment and service sector, we will continue to build up key engineering competencies in Singapore. We want to ensure we have a highly competent workforce capable of research, development and engineering activities. In 2003, we established the Centre for Offshore Research & Engineering at the National University of Singapore. Last year, we committed an additional S$10 million for the Centre to promote and coordinate R&D and manpower developments for Singapore’s offshore engineering industry. The industry is also investing in R&D on its own. Just recently, global leader, Keppel Offshore & Marine, announced the establishment of the Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre to develop deep water and harsh environment technologies for the exploration and production of oil & gas.

In conclusion, we look forward to working with CGGVeritas to develop new products and services. I hope CGGVeritas will leverage on Singapore’s R&D infrastructure to develop next generation technologies and innovation. On this note, let me congratulate the management and the staff of CGGVeritas on the opening of this new CGGVeritas’ facility and wish you all great success.

Thank you.