What's Happened to the Agbami Contract?
Everything seems to have gone very quiet on the award of the helicopter support operation for the Agbami field? The last I saw it was due to begin production during the first quarter of 2008, both CHC and Bristow are convinced they have it, but neither company has announced being awarded the contract by Chevron, although Bristow made the first flight to the new barge with one of Chevron's 76C++s. Either company will need a lead-in of several months to get in the necessary crews and helicopters (though I'd say that neither company could get enough pilots in that time without a serious rethink about salaries and conditions - especially Bristow). Maybe it hasn't dawned on Chevron yet that most pilots in Nigeria make nothing like the huge amounts it pays to its aviation advisors and it will have to pay a decent contract rate for either company to attract enough pilots to a place like this to be able to gear up for a major contract like Agbami. I doubt it - most oil companies have their heads stuck firmly up their rear passages and the accountants which run them only get to grips with reality when accountants who now run companies like CHC and Bristow refuse to fly for them any more if they don't get paid enough to provide a decent service and make a reasonable profit.