Drilling rig economics jumps 6%

GlobalSantaFe’s worldwide SCORE, or Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics, was up 6 percent in January compared to the previous month’s SCORE.

The SCORE compares the profitability of current mobile offshore drilling rig day rates to the profitability of day rates at the 1980-1981 peak of the offshore drilling cycle. During the peak the SCORE averaged 100 percent or points and new contract day rates equaled the sum of daily cash operating costs plus about $700 per day per million dollars invested.

The North Sea posted the largest increase in January, increasing 12.8 percent to 59.7 points from 53 points in December.

The SCORE for the Gulf of Mexico increased 5 percent in January to 59 points from 56.2 points in December.

Southeast Asia posted a 2.1 percent increase in January to 57.2 points from 56 points in December, while West Africa’s SCORE came in at 57.1 points in January, a slight 0.1 percent increase from the previous month.

Meanwhile, the use of both jack-up and semi-submersible rigs increased in January vs. December. The SCORE for jack-ups came in at 61.6 points, up 6.2 percent from 58.1 points, while semi-submersibles came in at 55.2 points, a 5.9 percent increase from 52.1 points.

—Ray Tyson