In the US Gulf of Mexico, the West Neptune drillship is on contract to LLOG and the Sevan Louisiana semisubmersible is working for Talos Production. Drillship West Gemini continues operating offshore Angola for TotalEnergies via the Sonadrill joint venture. In Brazil, the West Saturn drillship is on contract with Equinor, while the West Carina, West Jupiter and West Tellus drillships remain in service offshore Brazil for Petrobras.
Seadrill had three jackups in operation offshore Qatar during the first quarter, the West Castor, West Telesto and West Tucana, all on bareboat charter in Qatar to the Gulfdrill joint venture between Seadrill and Gulf Drilling International.
In Norway, the West Elara ultra-harsh-environment jackup remains on contract with ConocoPhillips, and the West Phoenix harsh-environment semi continues a program for Vår Energi.
Seadrill continues marketing the cold-stacked benign environment semi West Eclipse and the cold-stacked jackup West Prospero.
According to the company, industry analysis projects that offshore capex will increase by about 10% to 15% this year, with further growth to follow in 2024 and 2025, indicating sustained demand for the services of the offshore drilling sector over the coming years.
The benign ultradeepwater drillship market continues to tighten, the company added, with recent fixtures for these vessels in the Golden Triangle up to mid-$400,000/d prices.
Although the outlook for harsh-environment drilling, particularly offshore Norway, is currently subdued, Seadrill expects the market to recover in 2024 and beyond, with demand for these rig types benefiting from tax incentives provided to operators for permits filed prior to 2022 for drilling campaigns in 2023 and beyond.
05.23.2023
