Eldon Ball • Houston
The global economic recession, decline in energy demand, and collapse last year of oil and gas prices mean the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) construction boom has come to an end. That’s the conclusion of a report in this month’s issue from ODS-Petrodata on the state of the offshore rig market.
Three MODU orders have been placed so far this year compared to the 38 rigs ordered in the first six months of 2008, an indication in the slowdown in activity within the offshore industry. As of the first of June, 165 MODUs were under construction, planned, or on order worldwide. That total includes 69 jackups, 49 semisubmersibles, 41 drillships, and six tender-assist units. Of these, 44 will be delivered this year into the softening rig market, including 22 jackups.
ODS-Petrodata forecasts a significant surplus of jackups in the market into 2011 at least. Given the oversupply of jackups and the lack of available capital, it remains to be seen whether those rigs that are planned but not yet under construction actually make it past the drawing board. See the full report and forecast byKaren Boman, ODS-Petrodata, beginning on page 52.
Oversupply of jackups
The global jackup fleet has grown significantly from January 2004 to May 2009. The jackup count increased from 387 to 440 and is expected to add about 60 more before the year ends. The growing jackup fleet means that 2009 will be a challenging year for jackup operators. Some jackups will be without contracts for all or part of the year and others planned for construction will not be built.
Included in this issue is theOffshore wall-size poster detailing the worldwide jackup rig fleet, compiled by Special Correspondent Jaime Kammerzell. The poster is limited to rigs with capacity for 350 ft (107 m) or greater water depth and 25,000 ft (7,620 m) or greater maximum drilling depth. Thus, not all 440 jackups are carried on the poster.
See her report beginning onpage 60.
Resolving ‘Big Three’ of improved recovery
Mention improved or tertiary recovery and usually the first things that come to mind are injecting gas and chemicals or employing ultrasonic stimulation and other techniques to pry elusive reserves from producing wells.
However, for subsea engineers the systematic development of technologies that focus on the big three of “processing, power, and pumping” hold the keys for maximizing the recovery of innumerable deepwater assets that otherwise would remain stranded.
That, saysManuel Terranova, GE Oil & Gas senior VP of subsea product platform and commercial operations, will make even comparatively small deep and ultra deepwater fields economical.
In an exclusive interview withContributing Editor Jim Redden for Offshore, Terranova laid out the strategic thinking of GE Oil & Gas for future subsea improved oil recovery.
While others look at near-term opportunities to increase production from existing deepwater fields, Terranova believes increasing subsea recovery over the long-term must focus on extending field life appreciably and in slashing costs, even to the point of making surface production facilities obsolete. Doing so, however, means resolving the technological hurdles of deepwater subsea processing, transmitting power for ultra-long step-outs, and boosting flow through compression or pumping.
Read the full interview beginning onpage 66.
Emerging giant off Brazil
The fields discovered to date in Brazil’s Santos basin are expected to ramp up oil production from a very minor 4,000 b/d of oil in 2008, to some 675,000 b/d in 2015 and perhaps 1.3 MMb/d in 2020. That’s the projection from global research consultants Wood Mackenzie, which has identified the key Brazilian infrastructure projects ready to take shape as the country develops the subsalt hydrocarbons of the Santos basin over the next 20 years.
In this issue,Drilling Editor John Waggoner reports on the Wood Mackenzie findings and looks at which projects will be developed first and in what time frame. See his report beginning on page 28.
To respond to articles in Offshore, or to offer articles for publication, contact the editor by email ([email protected]).
