REGISTRATION DOCUMENT - Bourbon

MANAGEMENT REPORT3Risk factors4 RISK FACTORS2011 was marked by a new major fi nancial crisis, in particular,in Europe.To the best of the Company’s knowledge, there are no exceptionalevents or disputes in existence likely to have a signifi cant impacton the business, results, fi nancial situation or capital assets ofBOURBON or its subsidiaries.BOURBON’s objective is to ensure that the entire internal controlsystem can, as far as possible, prevent any risks to which it isexposed. With this in mind, a “risk-mapping” process was developedin 2005.A dedicated project team was formed within the Group. Aninventory of risks was prepared as thoroughly as possible, alongwith associated controls, then categorized by type. On a caseby-casebasis, probabilities of occurrence and of potential impactwere evaluated. The inventoried risks were ranked based on theirpossible frequency (from frequent to improbable) and their impact(negligible to catastrophic), which would require an action plan to beimplemented immediately by a crisis unit.The risk-map is regularly updated. It was updated in 2011 to takeaccount of the results of action plans implemented during the yearand changes made to the evaluation of certain risks.The type and ranking of these risks are considered strategic andconfi dential. Nevertheless, the principal risk factors are outlinedbelow.Investors are invited to take into consideration all the informationcontained in this Registration Document , including the risk factorsdescribed in this section, before deciding to invest. These risks are,on the date of this Registration Document , those whose occurrenceBOURBON believes could have a signifi cantly prejudicial impacton the Group, its business, its fi nancial position, its results or itsgrowth. Investors’ attention is drawn to the fact that other risks, notyet identifi ed on the date of this Registration D ocument or whoseoccurrence was not considered, on that same date, as being likelyto have a signifi cantly prejudicial effect on the Group, its business, itsfi nancial position, its results or its growth, may exist.4.1 RISKS RELATED TO THE MARKET OFOFFSHORE OIL AND GAS MARINESERVICESThe offshore marine services activity cycle depends on the demandfrom oil operators and the supply of vessels on the market.Among other factors, the exploration/development cycle of oilcompanies depends on assumptions regularly made by them ofthe average price per barrel over ten years. The amount that oilcompanies devote to exploration costs may also be infl uenced bythe short-term price per barrel. By contrast, the activity of productionon existing fi elds is much less sensitive.In 2011, the average price per barrel of crude oil hit an all-timehigh of USD 111. In fact, the new fi nancial crisis did not affect theprice of crude (USD 110 on average over the last four months ofthe year compared with USD 111 for the fi rst eight months); on thecontrary, during the 2008 global recession, the price per barrel fellby an average of 42% over the last four months of the year (USD 62compared with USD 113 for the fi rst eight months). In this favorableclimate, current projections forecast growth in demand and showincreased investment across all operating areas. With regard to WestAfrica, BOURBON’s main source of revenues, these investmentswill be mainly restricted to deepwater offshore and ultra deepwateroffshore activities.With regard to supply, changes to the fl eet of offshore supplyvessels depends on the rate at which old vessels are scrapped andinvestment is made in new vessels. These two factors are infl uencedby several things, including:3 forecasts made by marine services suppliers with regard tochanges in customer demand;3 the obsolescence of old vessels, this being dependent uponchanges in oil companies’ expectations;3 access to fi nancial resources enabling operators to invest.Unforeseen changes in oil companies’ demand cycle and changesin numbers of vessels available on the market, events which by theirvery nature are beyond BOURBON’s control, and affecting one, ormore of the markets on which BOURBON has a presence, may havea signifi cantly prejudicial effect on BOURBON’s business, fi nancialposition, results or outlook.BOURBON - 2011 Registration Document 37