Offshore staff
LONDON — Growing investment in offshore exploration and production (E&P), and a rising rig count, will increase demand for offshore support vessels (OSVs) over the next two years, according to a report by Westwood Global Energy Group and Braemar ACM Shipbroking.
Upstream engineering, procurement and construction spending could reach $75 billion this year, an increase of 80%. The Middle East is the largest contributor with final investment decisions on projects such as QatarEnergy’s North Field Expansion Phase 1 and Saudi Aramco’s Zuluf Incremental.
Next comes South America, with projects such as Shell’s Gato do Mato offshore Brazil.
The number of globally contracted jackups is at a six-year high, with utilization (excluding cold-stacked rigs) of 82%. In Saudi Arabia, jackup drilling activity will ramp up further following Saudi Aramco’s tender for an additional 30 rigs for its projects.
Global drillship utilization is 79%, the highest since 2014, the report added. Dayrates in this segment are largely supported by activity in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, where rates above $200,000/day are now commonplace.
Support vessel owners have been reactivating their fleets to take advantage of the activity, following the large-scale stacking that took place during the pandemic. By the end of the first quarter, the total layup fleet was down by 32%, the lowest since 2016, with 321 vessels either reactivated, scrapped or written-off.
