Vol. 226 No. 12

Rig information tables

The tables on these pages show the fleet sizes of the major offshore drilling contractors operating at the technology limits of the modern fleet. Table 1 lists the top 10 companies by fleet size. Jackups, semisubmersibles and drillships are included in the count with their contracted fleet utilization. The major contractors continue to be very busy, with most of their rigs fulfilling active contracts. The market leaders are Transco, GlobalSantaFe and Noble Drilling, which have a full-line offering of drilling capability. In the second tier, Pride International and Diamond Offshore offer full capability with ENSCO offering jackups and semisubmersibles. In the third tier, Todco, Rowan and Nabors run jackups, with China Oilfield Services offering both jackups and semis.

Table 2 details the deepwater fleet of semis and drillships. The fleet has expanded this year to 24 rigs with 8,000-ft or greater water depth capability, up from last year’s 22 rigs. New entries include the Noble Clyde Boudreaux, Noble Dave Beard, and Leiv Eiriksson. The rig owners continue to expand the fleet’s drilling capability, with eight rigs capable of 35,000-ft drilling capacity, compared to last year’s six rigs. Owners expanded the number of rigs capable of drilling to 30,000 ft by one to 14 rigs. The Belford Dolphin is the only rig capable of drilling to 39,000 ft. Dayrates continue strong, with over half of the deepwater rigs receiving a dayrate increase compared to last year at this time.

Table 2    Click image for enlarged view

Table 3 lists the high-end jackups capable of venturing into water 400 ft or deeper. The list has expanded to 20 from last year’s 18 working rigs. Three Rowan rigs have been extended to the 35,000-ft drilling capability fleet: Rowan Gorilla IV, V and VI and the Rowan Gorilla II and III are new to the listing with 30,000-ft drilling capability. Dayrates have grown strongly over the past year, and increases of 30% or more are common.

Table 3    Click image for enlarged view

Newbuild rigs

Significant numbers of newbuild rigs are in the works. Fourteen semisubmersibles with 8,000-ft or deeper water capability are under construction, listed in Table 4.

Table 4    Click image for enlarged view

Smedvig Offshore’s West E-Drill semisubmersible will come to market first, scheduled for delivery at the end of 2007. SeaDrill Ltd. has the most vessels under construction, with three 10,000-ft water depth-rated semisubmersibles in progress. Two will enter the market in the early 2008, with the third one delivered late in that same year.

Frigstad, Aker Drilling, Noble Drilling and Maersk Contractors each have two semisubmersibles under construction. Most of the new semis will have 10,000-ft or greater water depth ratings. Frigstad is building its two rigs for 12,000-ft water depths. The Frigstad rigs will be able to drill to 50,000 ft, which presses the current technology envelope in many ways.

Mosvold is building the only new drillship. It will have 10,000-ft water depth capability and is scheduled to enter the fleet in the middle of 2008.

Nine upper-end jackups with water depth capability of 400 ft or more are under construction. China Oilfield Services Ltd, ENSCO, Noble Drilling and Premium Drilling are each building two rigs, with China Oilfield Services bringing one new rig to market at the end of 2005. Premium brings its first rig to market in 2006. Four high-end jackups from other contractors will enter the fleet in 2007.

Most of the new high-end jackups will be capable of drilling to 30,000 ft and be fitted with top drive and other leading-edge drilling technologies.