European aerospace company Airbus Helicopters, part of the Airbus group and one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of rotary-wing aircraft, is considering involving its South African subisidiary, Airbus Helicopters Southern Africa (AHZA), in supporting its oil and gas industry market in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, AHZA customises, supports and maintains light helicopters supplied to customers in much of sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean islands, but the oil and gas sector uses medium and heavy helicopters. The medium machine offered to the industry by Airbus Helicopters is the Dauphin (which comes in the AS365 and EC155 versions) while the heavy types used to support oil and gas operations are the AS332 Super Puma and AHZA’s latest development, the EC225.

“The Dauphin is a significant aircraft for us in Africa, as will be the EC175, our newest addition in the super medium helicopter segment – the first EC175 has just entered service in the North Sea gasfields,” states Airbus Helicopters Oil & Gas division head Chris Grainger. “We see a future for our company in South Africa to get more involved with these aircraft. We have had some preliminary discussions in this regard. I don’t think their involvement will reach to the heavies – these are supported from France and with technical support in each country (for example, Angola). But with the Dauphin, and as the EC175 fleet and operations expand, I think we’ll see some developments, although on a moderate scale, due to the numbers of aircraft involved.” There are currently around 40 Airbus Helicopters aircraft working in the sub-Saharan African oil and gas arena, composed mostly of Dauphins and EC225 Super Pumas.

In January, the company announced that helicopters manufactured by it and its predecessor companies (Eurocopter, Aerospatiale and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm) had exceeded ten-million flying hours, over some 50 years, in supporting oil and gas operations around the world, including Africa. “We have a strong historical presence in West Africa – from the Ivory Coast to Angola, including Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon. Typically, in Africa, we have a mixture of customers – both big international helicopter operators active on the continent and local companies. We have a fair balance between the two.”

Currently, as there are not yet many operational oil- and gasfields in East Africa, the company’s presence in that sector in the region is still moderate. And the downturn in the oil price has resulted in a number of projects being put on hold. “Until recently, we definitely viewed the African continent as having great potential for helicopter services for the oil and gas industry, due to the discovery of new fields in both West and East Africa,” he reports. “But, with the current downturn, there is now a degree of wait-and-see, so we’re not making any short-term forecasts. Some 66% to 75% of our helicopters are serving production activities and, until now, production has not been affected by the low prices. Oil producers need to produce. But we expect a slowdown in exploration and we are seeing signs of this. And we expect oil companies to seek to cut costs, but there is little scope for cost cutting with helicopters. So we don’t expect the market to collapse, but there might be a little overcapacity for a while. This applies both to the sub-Saharan African and global markets.”

Consulting with oil and gas companies, industry analysts and helicopter lessors and operators working in the sector, Airbus Helicopter has very much found a consensus that low oil prices will continue through this year and next, but that the price should recover later in the decade. However, in the interim, the low prices will drive some producers out of the market. Nevertheless, the aerospace company has long-term confidence in the sector.

Meanwhile, a programme to fit a new vertical shafts in the main gearboxes of the company’s Super Puma-family helicopter models (including the military versions) is progressing well. The new shafts are fitted as standard in new production aircraft. This shaft was developed as a consequence of two nonfatal ditchings by Super Pumas in the North Sea, in operations in support of Britain’s offshore oil industry. Currently, more than 60% of the 120 Super Pumas operating in the oil and gas sector worldwide have been refitted, and all will have been refitted by the middle of this year. All other civil and military Super Puma-family helicopters, of which 260 are in operation globally, are also being refitted, but priority is being given to the oil and gas fleet. All refitting will be concluded this year. “More than 10 000 flying hours have been accumulated with the new shaft,” says Grainger. “There have been no problems since we started retrofitting the fleet.”