No wonder Wall Street is talking up the trend lines for offshore drilling even as interest in North American land falters. The offshore industry as a whole has seen a sharp 2011 uptick in contracts and that’s now reflected also in working rigs, bringing the industry close to the magical 80% utilization level that often coincides with rising rates.
Mobile offshore drilling units came in with 644 out of 811 units under contract for a 79.4% utilization rate in the week ending September 30, according to ODS-Petrodata.
While the news is good globally, it varies by region. Seas are still a little rough in the Gulf of Mexico, where utilization moved up modestly to 52.6% with one more rig added to contract.
Elsewhere around the globe, ODS-Petrodata reports the European/Mediterranean Sea market exhibited flert utilizaton of 87.9% with 112 contracted rigs out of 116 available.
Next hottest market? No pun intended based on location, but it remains the Middle East with regional fleet utilization of 84.9%, according to ODS-Petrodata, followed by the Asian Australian utilization of 82.2% on the basis of 120 out of 146 mobile offshore drilling units under contract.
Activity in other markets, according to ODS-Petrodata include Latin America, which remains at 80.5% utilization, virtually unchanged for the week, and West Africa where fleet utilization decreased to 77.5% based on 55 of 71 rigs under contract.
Recommended Reading
SM Kicks Off Dean Wildcatting With 918 Boe/d Choked IPs
2024-11-04 - Operator SM Energy is constraining IPs to not overwhelm its produced-water facilities.
Exclusive: Surge Energy Seeks Midland M&A with $1.3B in Dry Powder
2024-11-19 - Surge Energy is one of the largest private oil producers in the Permian Basin. With $1.3 billion in dry powder to put to work, Surge is scouring the northern Midland Basin for M&A, executive Travis Guidry told Hart Energy.
Expand Keeps Eye on Comstock’s Monster Haynesville Expansion
2024-11-18 - But while Expand Energy keeps a watchful eye on what its neighbors are doing, the current gas price is too difficult for Expand to dive into the costly far western Haynesville play itself, said Tim Beard, Expand’s vice president of drilling.
Shale Outlook Permian: The Once and Future King Keeps Delivering
2025-01-11 - The Permian Basin’s core is in full-scale manufacturing mode, with smaller intrepid operators pushing the basin’s boundaries further and deeper.
'A Renewed Look': Central Basin Platform's Old Rock Gains New Interest
2024-10-29 - As majors prune their portfolios to sell non-core assets, M&A activity is heating up on the Permian’s Central Basin Platform and Northwest Shelf—and Ring Energy hopes to be a buyer.
Comments
Add new comment
This conversation is moderated according to Hart Energy community rules. Please read the rules before joining the discussion. If you’re experiencing any technical problems, please contact our customer care team.