Oil Casualty Insurance Ltd is diversifying beyond its traditional energy industry market.

Ocil, a mutual insurer and reinsurer that is owned by the energy giants whose risks it covers, has been operating from Bermuda for 30 years.

But only over the past six months has it started to underwrite non-energy business as it aims to strengthen through broadening its risk exposures.

Jerry Rivers, Ocil’s chief operating officer, said the Bermuda market had given Ocil “a warm welcome” in the areas in which it had branched out.

On Friday, Ocil reported net income of $4.7 million for its financial year ended November 30, 2015, an increase of $1.1 million over the previous year. Net premiums were $111.4 million, down from $113.9 million a year earlier. Shareholders’ equity reached a record level of $537.5 million as of November 30, 2015.

Mr Rivers said a year ago Ocil had earned the approval to diversify from its shareholders, which include Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Total.

Amendments had to be made to the covenants in the indentures that govern the terms of its debt, and this process was completed in September last year. In October the company began writing non-energy lines.

Ocil has been writing management liability insurance, chalking up three directors’ and officers’ accounts, Mr Rivers said. And its property insurance division, which started out dealing with energy and mining-sector risks in 2012 and which is now diversifying into non-energy risks, is also making headway.

“It’s good for Bermuda because property on a direct basis had largely disappeared,” Mr Rivers said. “We are excited about being a new property market in Bermuda. Hamilton Group also has a property division and Bermuda is back on the map as a property insurance market for large international customers.”

He added that Ocil was taking “a methodical approach” to building out its business and that the recruitment last month of Natasha Pethick from Axis Specialty in Bermuda as a property underwriter would strengthen expertise in non-energy areas.

Not being a publicly traded company gave Ocil the ability to grow its new business lines steadily, Mr Rivers added, in the absence of the quarterly pressure that listed entities face to deliver ever-better earnings and revenue.

“We can be patient,” he said. “For example, the average limits on what we write in the property division are about $11 million to $12 million, but we have the ability to go up to $50 million.”

Continuing expansion was likely to lead to the hiring of an underwriting assistant, he added.

Some of Ocil’s member companies have seen their fortunes fade dramatically over the past year, as oil and natural gas prices have plummeted on global markets. But Mr Rivers said Ocil’s business had not suffered similarly.

“Our portfolio is well diversified among upstream, midstream and downstream energy companies,” he said. “While the exploration and production companies have been hardest hit by low oil prices, other sides of the sector, such as refineries and utilities, have benefited.

“Also because we are a mutual, there is a great sense of loyalty and support among our customers. So overall, the low prices in the energy market have had a muted effect on our organisation.”

After the company’s annual general meeting at the Fairmont Southampton last Wednesday, the Ocil board of directors appointed Andre Levey, group insurance manager of Santos Ltd, as chairman.

Fabrizio Mastrantonio, senior vice-president, insurance activities management, of Eni SpA was appointed deputy chairman.

Bertil Olsson, Ocil’s chief executive officer, said in the company’s earnings release: “These results are evidence of the execution of the company’s strategic plan which is built on expansion and diversification, a strategy designed to ensure Ocil’s long-term viability and capital adequacy, while maintaining focus on our core constituency within the energy industry.”