Worldwide offshore rig count and utilization rate

First, there is the good news that the offshore drilling market has, again, improved a bit more over the last month. The total number of jackups, semis, and drillships under contract grew by five units from 478 in January to 483 rigs through February. Meanwhile, the global fleet has shrunk by two units to a total supply of 758 rigs. As a result, utilization improved from 62.9% in January to 63.7% in February. Meanwhile, the number of rigs working has also improved, climbing by six units from 453 in January to 459 in February. However, the bad news is that likely all these figures will suffer in the coming months due to impacts from the plummeting oil price and COVID-19, but the question is by how much.

– Justin Smith, Petrodata by IHS Markit