Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway – Offshore drilling activity should rise by around 10% in 2021 and 2022, according to Rystad Energy.
The analyst anticipates nearly 2,500 new offshore wells this year, up from under 2,300 in 2020, and more than 2,700 wells in 2022.
This would be more than the roughly 2,500 offshore wells drilled in 2019, prior to the start of the pandemic.
Energy research analyst Daniel Holmedal said: “We expect the onshore and offshore shelf in the Middle East and the deepwater market in South America to be the main drivers of growth going forward.
“To recover production levels, operators will have to launch new drilling plans in tandem with maintenance and enhancement programs for existing wells, opening significant opportunities for well service suppliers in the years ahead.”
However, offshore drilling in deepwater in Europe and Africa will likely remain subdued compared to other regions in 2021.
Most of the deepwater growth comes from North and South America, mainly off Brazil, Guyana, and Mexico.
As for well interventions, West Africa and the Middle East could provide a strong market in the next few years with a total of around 10,000 active offshore wells on oil fields, and a respective average well age of 16 and 21 years.
This compares with 10-15 years in most other regions.
03/23/2021
