[SINGAPORE] Vard Holdings, a builder of offshore support vessels, has said that it would close 2013 with its biggest annual order in six years as oil and gas companies boost spending on energy exploration.

" We're confident that we'll be able to secure one or two orders at least" in the coming weeks, Holger Dilling, an executive vice- president at Vard, said in a phone interview. " We are expecting the best order intake since 2007."

Demand from North Sea, Brazil and West Africa and explorations in new areas such as the Arctic Sea may help boost orders for Vard's specialised ships, said Mr Dilling. Investment in exploration and production may rise to US$750 billion next year as companies seek to add reserves and expand output, the IFP Energies Nouvelles policy group said last month.

Vard, based in Alesund, Norway, won contracts worth 11.9 billion kroner (S$2.4 billion) in the first nine months, 45 per cent more than a year earlier. That boosted its total orderbook to 19.6 billion kroner with deliveries stretching into 2017. In 2007, the company had received orders worth 15.5 billion kroner.