Offshore rig economics jump 2.1 percent in May

Ray Tyson

Petroleum News Houston correspondent

GlobalSantaFe’s worldwide SCORE, or Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics, for May came in at 43.1, a 2.1 percent increase from the previous month, a 13.7 percent increase from the same monthly period a year earlier, and a 65.6 percent improvement from five years ago. 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. In the 1980-1981 period, when 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.

Despite the continuing loss of rigs in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the region scored a 39.9 rating in May, up 6.6 percent from April, up 35 percent from May of last year, and up 78 percent from five years ago. However, the North Sea continued to struggle with rig economics. The region scored 37.9 in May, down 6 percent from April, down 2.9 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, but up 51.5 percent versus five years ago.

Offshore West Africa scored a 50 in May, a 3 percent increase from April, a 3.3 percent improvement vs. the year-ago period, and up 37.8 percent from five years ago.

Worldwide, the economics for both jack-up rigs and semi-submersibles improved month-over-month and year-over-year, as well as from five years ago, according GlobalSantaFe’s calculations.

Jack-ups scored 53.2 in May, up 2.3 percent from April, up 23.8 percent from May of last year, and up 112.7 percent from five years ago. Semi-submersibles scored 33.4, an increase of 3.5 percent from April, an increase of 1.1 percent from a year earlier, and an increase of 23.6 percent compared to five years ago.