Worldwide rig economics improved in July

Ray Tyson

The worldwide Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics, or SCORE, for July 2004 registered 44.7, representing a 0.1 percent increase from the previous month, contract driller and survey sponsor GlobalSantaFe reported Aug. 16.

The SCORE compares the profitability of current mobile offshore drilling rig day rates to the profitability of day rates at the 1980-81 peak of the offshore drilling cycle. In 1980-81, when the SCORE averaged 100 percent, new contract day rates equaled the sum of daily cash operating costs plus about $700 per day per million dollars invested. In addition to the worldwide SCORE covering key types of competitive offshore drilling rigs in key drilling markets, a separate SCORE is calculated for certain types of rigs and certain regions to indicate the relative condition of rig markets.

The Gulf of Mexico scored 41.7 points in July, up 3.2 percent from the previous month and up 25 percent vs. the year-ago period, while the North Sea scored 41.3 points, down 4.8 percent from the previous month but up 1 percent compared to the year-ago period. West Africa scored 50.8 points in July, up 0.9 percent from June and up 11.6 percent vs. the same monthly period last year. Southeast Asia scored 54.7 points in July, up 0.9 percent from the previous month and up 11.8 percent from the year-ago period.

The worldwide fleet of jack-up rigs averaged a score of 54.6 in July, down 3.5 percent from the previous month but up 24.4 percent vs. the same period last year. Semi-submersibles averaged a score of 35.4 in July, up 7.2 percent from June and up 3.3 percent compared to the year-ago period.