The double whammy of oil price instability and the spreading COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the market, reversing most of the modest upward trends that had been made over the last year.
The double whammy of oil price instability and the spreading COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the market, reversing most of the modest upward trends that had been made over the last year. The total number of jackups, semis, and drillships under contract has plummeted by 31 units from 487 in March to 456 in May. That blow was softened somewhat by the global supply of units also being reduced over that two-month period, falling by 12 rigs from 758 in March to 746 in May. As such, utilization fell from 64.3% in March (the highest it had been since November 2015) to 61.1% through May. The number of rigs working has been hit even harder, plunging by 49 units over the last couple months, from 458 in March to 409 in May.
