Rig economics index jumps 5.5% in April

GlobalSantaFe’s worldwide SCORE, or Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics, for April was up 5.5 percent from March.

The SCORE compares the profitability of current offshore 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 or points, new contract day rates equaled the sum of daily cash operating costs plus about $700 per day per million dollars invested.

The SCORE for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in April was 66.3 points, up 0.8 percent from the previous month and up 77.3 percent from the same period last year.

The North Sea scored 72.4 points in April, an increase of 9 percent compared to March and an increase of 79.7 percent vs. the year-ago period.

West Africa’s SCORE came in at 66 points for April, a 10 percent increase from the previous month and a 35.9 percent increase from a year earlier.

Southeast Asia scored 60.1 points in April, up 4.4 percent from March and up 11.7 percent compared to the year-ago period.

Among the various drilling rig classes, jack-ups turned in a SCORE of 63.2 points in April, an increase of 0.8 percent from the prior month and an increase of 21.6 percent from the same period last year. Semi-submersibles registered 73.1 points in April, a hefty 11.9 percent increase from March and a 126.4 percent increase vs. the year-ago period.

—Ray Tyson