PENN WEST PETROLEUM LTD. T.PWT

Gulf drillers still facing tough market

[makedonka]

"Drilling activities in the US Gulf of Mexico continue to suffer from the market downturn, plunging the rig count to historic lows. On the week ending May 19, the US GoM rig count stood at 23, according to the Baker Hughes weekly report. That number is the same as it was last year at this time. But when one compares that number (23) to the 33 active rigs of May 2015 and the 58 active rigs of May 2014, the depths of the downturn become evident.

Since the beginning of the year, contracted utilization has continued to drop in the US Gulf. The average marketed rig count in April was 29.2, down from 34.0 in January. Drillships made up the vast majority of the contracted count at 19.0 units. Semisubmersibles came in at 4.0 for the month of April. “Both of these are down slightly from March,” says Cinnamon Edralin of IHS Markit Petrodata. “Conversely, jackups saw a slight improvement in terms of marketed contracted utilization.” In April, the average contracted jackup count was 6.2, versus 5.9 in March.

Moreover, the Gulf’s rig supply has also decreased since the beginning of the year. “Several rigs have left for jobs elsewhere, while some have left for stacking locations in regions where hurricane insurance is not a necessity,” Edralin noted. “Most of the rigs that left with jobs in hand went to other parts of the Americas.” For example, Diamond Offshore’s jackup Ocean Scepter went to work off Mexico, while the drillship Noble Bob Douglas went to South America for a job off Suriname, and the Maersk Developer went to Colombia."

https://artmatters.ca/wp/2017/06/coming-alive-after-five/

[makedonka]

Oops, wrong link. Here you go! https://www.offshore-mag.com/articles/print/volume-77/issue-6/gulf-of-mexico/gulf-drillers-still-facing-tough-market.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+offshore-latest-news+%28OS+-+Latest+News%29