The offshore drilling market is showing the first signs of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the decline in oil demand but is still down significantly from a year ago. The total number of jackups, semis, and drillships under contract plummeted during 2020, falling by 55 units from 476 in January 2020 to 421 in December. Over that same period, the global supply of units was also reduced by 28 from the beginning of 2020, from 760 to 732. With those factors, utilization has fallen from 62.7% in January 2020 to 57.5% in December. Correspondingly, the number of rigs working has also nosedived as operators put projects on hold or cancelled them outright, dropping by 80 units from 450 at the beginning of the year to 370 in December. – Justin Smith, Petrodata by IHS Markit
