Half-year summary

with Petter Aalvik, CEO

Published: 29.08.07

Omega's CEO, Petter Aalvik walks us through the eventful first half of 2007; a period that featured continued growth, new contracts and organisational changes. Petter tells that the Ølensvåg extension is nearing completion and offers us HSE advice for autumn.

433 employees

We are now 433 employees at Omega, an increase from 400 at the start of the year. In 2007, the increase in personnel has been relatively equally divided amongst Project Services, Project System, Technology, Omega IAT and Administration. I want to wish everyone who started at Omega in 2007 a sincere welcome.

Due to the high, stable price of oil, new projects are constantly being initiated. Large projects such as Snøhvit and Ormen Lange are about to commence production. Omega's consultants on these projects offer skills that are highly valued and sought after in the market, and this contributes to the continuous growth.

More than 500 Statoil users, and other various suppliers, have made use of Pims CMS on the Snøhvit project; their positive experiences have given rise to great results and new requests.

Turnover in last 12 months: 450 million NOK

As of mid-2007 the Omega concern presented an accumulated turnover of 450 million NOK on a 12-month basis. This gives us a growth rate of approximately 50 per cent compared to the previous 12-month period. The operating margin before taxes is about 7.5 per cent for the first six months of the year.

Our goal is to harness this growth in order to make Omega a better company to buy services from, and a better company to be employed in. We are noticing that a larger network of employees and customers, leads to an increase in requests and interesting job opportunities. Our increased size has allowed us to further develop our technology, trainee programmes, e-learning courses (Pims and HSE), Advantage⁺ Programme, Service Centre, and ability to handle the complicated challenges associated with moving personnel abroad.

Omega in Norway

The new building in Ølen is on schedule, and will be ready to move into in early 2008. The exterior work is mostly completed. The color of the Omega buildings have now changed from red to white, offering us an idyllic southern-Norway facade, right here in Ølensvåg. The new building has also been the stepping-stone towards a new Omega initiative. Due to our lack of expert personnel in building and construction, Arne Gunnar Habbestad and Leif Magne Berge have put together a very competent team of seven carpenters and construction specialists.

Omega IAT has in the last six months welcomed seven more engineers, and now has 20 employees; this makes Omega IAT one of the largest consultative engineering companies in Northern Rogaland and Sunnhordland.

The Statoil and Hydro merger will make its mark on the Norwegian oil and gas business in 2007. In terms of systems solutions, Omega is well positioned for the merger, with both Statoil and Hydro as Pims users. We have also made efforts to position Omega as an attractive employer for senior personnel who have taken the optional redundancy packages offered by the companies. We appreciate your efforts in conveying what Omega has to offer to Statoil and Hydro employees who have opted to take the redundancy packages. In order to strengthen Omega's presence in the Oslo area, we will establish an office in Lysaker by the end of autumn. Arne Inge Mathiesen is joining us from Statoil to take up the position as manager of the Oslo office in October/November.

Omega abroad

Internationally, Omega is also continuing to expand. This spring we have negotiated new global frame agreements with ConocoPhillips in Houston, both for System Services and Project Services. Devon Energy in Houston is going to continue using Pims after a successful initial phase. Statoil's acquisition of operations in Canada will bring with it new opportunities for Omega in Canada. The Pims implementation both in BP and Aker Kværner has been a success and the system solutions are being introduced on a global basis.

Omega PS Singapore, which was established at the beginning of the year, has projects in Indonesia, China, Vietnam and Singapore. At the present time we have two newly-employed system engineers from Singapore in Ølen for training.

Omega's involvement with Inpex in Perth has grown from one to three positions in 2007, and we are seeing an opportunity to sell Pims to other customers in the area. We also have one newly-employed system engineer from Perth in Ølen for training.

Omega Technology UAB in Klaipeda now has 20 employees associated with the office. They are working on system developments both for the Technology department in Ølen and Systems department at Omega, in Norway and abroad.

Organisational changes

In the first six months of 2007 the Project Services department was strengthened with the addition of Terje Aarekol as a Department Manager. In August, Trond Moberg was also hired to head up Business Development. In Administration, Kjell Tore Helgeland has taken up the position as Manager of Accounting and Administration. Lars Dalen continues in his current role, while Kjell Tore initially concentrates on improving processes and work structures for international operations. Long term, Lars will focus on accounting in the Norwegian operations.

Kjell Åge Iversen, who has lead the establishment of Omega's operations in Houston and Canada and assisted in our expansion to several other locations, will return to Norway next summer to take up the position of International Operations Manager at Omega.

HSE

Omega's HSE focus continues to be on keeping in shape. In May and June there was a cycle-to-work campaign which was well received. The sick leave so far this year has been 1.5 per cent. With cold and rainy autumn nights approaching, it might be more of a challenge to motivate yourself to exercise, but remember that the good health that comes with physical activity is always worth the effort. I want to encourage everyone to exercise this autumn, and to keep in mind that we take care of each other to ensure we avoid accidents.

I wish you all a healthy autumn.

Petter Aalvik
CEO