Worldwide offshore rig count & utilization rate (Sept. 2015 – Aug. 2017)
1,000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
No.of
rigs
Fl
eet
ut
il
iz
ati
on
rate
%
Sept15 Nov15 Jan16March16May16 July16Sept16 Nov16 Jan17March17 May17 July17
Total util Total supply Total contracted Working
Source: IHS RigPoint Notes: Rig types included are jackups, semis, and drillships.
Top fve foater feet
Source: Rystad Energy RigCube
*Average fleet age for the contracted and non-contracted units. Average age excludes newbuilds
not yet delivered. Seadrill (includes all consolidated companies). Fleet comparison only looking
at floating rig fleets of top five floater fleets (jackups excluded from chart).
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
4.0
3. 5
3.0
2. 5
2.0
1. 5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Africa
Australasia
Latin America
North America
ROV expenditure
Asia
Eastern Europe & FSU
Middle East
Western Europe
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
ROV
days
(0
0
0
s)
Expe
ndi
ture
($
bn)
Global ROV expenditure and days by region 2013-2022.
Source: Westwood Global Energy Group
Worldwide rig count
During the month of August, offshore
rig utilization hovered at just under 53%,
which is essentially the same level where
it has been for the last few months. At the
same time, the total supply of rigs continues to come down, which now stands at
821 jackups, semis, and drillships. However, while that is a move in the right direction for an oversupplied market, this was
offset by a slight dip in the number of units
under contract, bucking the recent trend
down to 433 rigs. On the upside, there
was a very modest bump in the number of
working rigs to 387, which is the highest it
has been since this time last year.
– Justin Smith, IHS Markit Petrodata
Transocean leads the
evolving offshore
driller landscape
In August, Transocean announced plans
to acquire Songa Offshore making them
the second driller to step up and make an
acquisition after the Ensco acquisition
of Atwood earlier this year. This is the
second major move on a strategic level
for Transocean after divesting their jackup
fleet to Borr Drilling, which still is the
largest transaction measure in number of
units to date in 2017.
After completing the acquisition of Songa Offshore, Transocean will have a combined fleet of 46 rigs - the largest floating
rig fleet as compared to other offshore
drilling contractors and almost twice the
size off the Seadrill floating fleet. Sixteen
of the floating rig retirements announced
this year have come from Atwood Oceanics, Diamond Offshore, Noble Drilling and
Transocean combined. Transocean leads
the way with the most retirements.
– Oddmund Føre,
Senior Analyst, Rystad Energy
Work-class ROV market
emerging from downturn
Demand for work-class ROVs (WROVs)
is recovering, according to Westwood
Global Energy, driven by drill-support,
field construction, and inspection, repair
and maintenance (IMR) activities offshore.
The analyst’s latest survey suggests the
market is starting to pick up following a
cyclical downturn during which activity
fell 36% and expenditure nearly halved.
Renewed project-sanctioning activity in
the UK North Sea and US Gulf of Mexico,
for developments such as Cheviot and Mad
Dog Phase 2, suggest a more positive outlook for WROV demand, coupled with the
large globally installed base of offshore infrastructure which will ensure that WROVs
for IMR activity remain essential.
