Dolphin repositioning rigs following UK North Sea market slowdown
North Sea E&P trends: moderate or better upswing expected
More than $28 billion in investment is expected next year offshore the UK and Norway, Rystad Energy reports.
Norway drillers focused on near-infrastructure targets
Westwood Global Energy Group expects 47 exploration wells to be drilled this year across the Norwegian Continental Shelf, targeting an overall resource of about 2.85 Bboe.
Exploration drilling returns moderate in year to date
In the year to date, offshore has accounted for about 95% of exploration spending but only two-thirds of the total discovered volumes, according to Rystad Energy.
Dolphin Drilling has issued an update on its rig fleet in a results statement.
The Borgland Dolphin semisubmersible has been undergoing a special periodic survey in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Extensive measurement testing has revealed no need for major steel replacement, and the program is on track. It should remain in Las Palmas until early 2025 ahead of a long-term contract in the UK North Sea, which is due to start in the first four months of the year.
Looking ahead, Dolphin is bidding the rig for work in multiple offshore basins due to most of the planned campaigns in the UK being postponed or suspended following Britain’s recent change of government, which plans to increase taxes on the petroleum E&P sector in its budget at the end of October.
This and the uncertainty around capital allowances related to any UK North Sea investments has led Dolphin’s clients to defer decisions in the short term. Following this development, the company decided to sell its Dolphin Leader semisub for recycling in July.
Blackford Dolphin left Nigeria on July 1 for a 14-month firm contract offshore India with Oil India starting in October. It has made scheduled stops in Namibia and South Africa en route.
The total fleet of moored rigs globally has reduced by 75%, with the pool of those available for international drilling campaigns down to potentially less than 10 rigs.
While there are a large number of potential drilling and decommissioning campaigns in prospect, many are short-term and do not justify the cost of reactivation and time consuming mobilization periods, Dolphin said. Other longer-term campaigns have been delayed due to constraints on delivery of services and equipment across the entire oil and gas value chain.
The company has also noted a focus among E&Ps to either optimize their existing production portfolios and/or enter into M&A activities as opposed to organic growth, and that too has delayed demand for drilling activities.
In the UK, the total rig fleet has reduced from more than 20 rigs to just a few capable semisubmersible rigs, Dolphin claimed. As a result, for future drilling campaigns, including decommissioning, operators may need to source rigs from other regions at high cost.
This, combined with international demand dynamics, could cause a severe under supply situation in the UK in the near future.