Drilling economics continue to improve, up 6.7 percent in August

GlobalSantaFe’s worldwide SCORE, or Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics, was up 6.7 percent in August compared to the previous month.

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, when the SCORE averaged 100 percent, or 100 points, new contract day rates equaled the sum of daily cash operating costs plus about $700 per day per million dollars invested.

The Gulf of Mexico turned in the best performance in August, up 9.7 percent from July to total 83.5 points and up 98.7 percent from the same monthly period last year.

The North Sea also checked in with a solid performance in August. The SCORE jumped 6.2 percent from July to total 92.1 points and was up a whopping 135.2 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Southeast Asia registered 65.8 points in August, an increase of 5.2 percent from the previous month and an increase of 19.4 percent from the year-ago period.

West Africa checked in with 65.8 points in August, up 2.7 percent compared to July and an increase of 65.1 percent compared to the same period last year.

Among drilling units worldwide, jack-up rigs scored an impressive 81.7 points in August, up 11.2 percent from July and up 48.9 percent when compared to the year-ago period. Semi-submersible rigs turned in a SCORE of 85.9 points in August, an increase of 2.2 percent from July and an increase of 152.4 percent versus the same period last year.

The average August SCORE worldwide came in at 83.1 points, up 6.7 percent from the previous month and up 89.4 percent compared to July a year ago.

—Ray Tyson