Offshore staff
NEW YORK CITY – Drilling rig contractors retired three semisubs and three jackups in November, according to Evercore ISI’s latest “Offshore Oracle” report. This brings the year to date total of rigs retired to 23 floaters and 16 jackups.
On the floater front, all newbuilds were deferred in November. The global floater supply has declined by 10% this year, and 33% since the offshore downturn began in 2014, the report noted.
On the jackup front, 12 newbuilds were delivered in November and two more are reportedly scheduled for December. Jackup attrition has barely kept pace with newbuild deliveries, the report comments, as global supply is up 12 units or 2% from year-end 2013 levels.
However, Evercore says it believes that several more jackups and floaters are likely to be retired imminently, with Shelf Drilling holding three jackups for sale while Saipem has both a jackup and floater being sold for scrap.
In addition, Seadrill has plans to recycle some of its rigs, and the firm says it believes that six floaters and three jackups are candidates for retirement. ADNOC also has plans to high-grade its aging fleet with the purchase of five newbuilds next year, as well as potentially more rig purchases in 2022, the report said.
