Offshore drilling rig market to continue slow recovery, says IHS

Oct. 1, 2019
The global offshore rig market is set to continue its tentative recovery for the foreseeable future.

Offshore staff

HOUSTON – The global offshore rig market is set to continue its tentative recovery for the foreseeable future, according to IHS Markit.

These findings are set out in a recent blog post entitled “2021 offshore rig market: Out of intensive care but in rehab.”

Overall, demand continues to rise, albeit in a more muted sense than was first anticipated for the period between late 2019 and 2021, and there is cause to remain cautiously optimistic. Rig demand is expected to increase by approximately 16.3% between 2019 and 2021 with an average demand of 473 units in 2019 climbing to 550 units in 2021.

Jackup demand is expected to make up a large majority of the increase, growing by 12.5% from 345 units on average in 2019 to 388 units in 2021. On the floater side, semi demand could increase from 69 units to 84 (21.7%), while drillship demand is forecasted to increase from 59 units to 78 (32.2%). There remains potential for demand to rise yet further as the market gains increased visibility when upcoming programs get firmed up over the next 18 months.

While these increases in demand are front loaded with more programs visible in the short term, it is probable that many drilling campaigns will continue to be delayed, which would lower demand in 2020 and push things into 2021 and beyond. This is particularly true the longer the price of oil remains low and relatively unstable, especially in the face of cheap onshore alternatives and general disruptions in the form of trade and geopolitical disputes.

10/01/2019