The offshore drilling market is keeping up the trend of steadily improving. The total number of jackups, semis, and drillships under contract rose from 432 in June to 441 in August. Complementing that, the global supply of rigs keeps shrinking, this time from 698 in June to 692 through August. As such, utilization has climbed from 61.9% in June to 63.7% in August, a level not reached since March of last year. Meanwhile, the number of rigs working worldwide also continues to improve, and at an even stronger pace, rising to 418 units through August from the 397 working in June.
– Justin Smith, Petrodata by IHS Markit
