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Even with the offshore investment environment improving, fleet size in key segments such as rigs, PSVs, and AHTS vessels has shrunk since 2019, according to a Clarksons report.
The decline in fleet size is “acute” in floating rigs, Clarksons noted in its latest weekly report. Clarksons data shows the rig fleet size is 20% down since the start of 2019, after the removal of older semi-subs with the jackup fleet 6% smaller.
The AHTS and PSV fleets have also diminished, both 4% smaller, as units have left. Clarkson said that, after gains in demand since 2021, these supply limitations have helped rebalance markets and drive notable day rate gains. Its Rig Rate Index is now at its highest since August 14 while Clarksons OSV Rate Index is at a record high.
In the case of rigs, day rate gains can be directly seen in new contracts. In recent years, every driller’s magic number for high-end rigs was $500,000 per day. Rigs finally hit that sweet spot this year and even surpassed it. Those numbers have not been seen since the 2012-2014 period.
Transocean for example revealed in its latest fleet status report that it won several extensions to existing deals for its Deepwater Atlas drillship.
Those started at $455,000 per day and then went past the magic mark with a daily rate of $505,000. This was not the first time this year, but the company also announced deals for the rig worth $580,000 per day which was blown out of the water by a day rate of $650,000 for a contract set for the end of 2026.
As for the subsea support segment, Clarkson said that supply growth has also been absent while the fleet remained flat in comparison to 2019. This has helped tighten markets, as demand for maintenance work on subsea oil and gas production infrastructure has grown, and vessels diversified into offshore wind which includes walk-to-work.
Wind demand, however, has driven growth in some segments with the 112-vessel strong cablelay fleet up 24% since the start of 2019, primarily to support Chinese wind demand but now also international requirements. |
