February 5, 2010

Offshore rig counts changed very little in major rig markets this week, according to ODS-Petrodata's Weekly Mobile Offshore Rig Count.

Worldwide, 579 of 752 mobile offshore drilling units are under contract this week, a net one-rig decline from last week. In addition, a new jackup drilling unit joined the fleet this week, and it is not currently contracted. The resulting net change caused worldwide offshore rig fleet utilization to fall slightly to 77.2 percent.

In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, 70 of 118 mobile offshore drilling units are under contract and fleet utilization is 59.3 percent.

The South America offshore rig count is unchanged from last week. With 88 of the region's 115 mobile offshore drilling rigs remaining under contract, the region's offshore rig fleet utilization rate is 76.5 percent.

The number of rigs under contract in European waters fell by two this week and now stands at 90. The 104-rig European offshore drilling fleet's utilization rate is now 86.5 percent.

In West Africa, fleet utilization fell to 73.0 percent this week, the lowest level since October 2009. Of the 63 rigs in the region, 46 are under contract.

In the Middle East, a one-rig increase in the number of offshore rigs under contract bumped fleet utilization to 76.3 percent. This week, 90 of the area's 118 mobile offshore drilling units are under contract.

The Asia/Australia offshore rig count fell by one rig to 100 this week. Utilization of the region's 124-rig offshore drilling fleet now stands at 80.6 percent.