Troubled waters

摘要

The ingredients for a troubled deepwater market - flattening rig demand, increasing costs and falling oil prices - have been brewing in the past year. A number of deepwater projects have been postponed, and the industry is treading cautiously, re-evaluating portfolios and reducing capital expenditures. "(Industry) had a long period - four to five years - where the deepwater market had really been booming," Michael Mortensen, Senior Director of Deepwater, Commercial Department for Maersk Drilling, said. "There was an immense and intense pressure on the industry to deliver. It had driven a lot of costs, a lot of demand for both people and equipment. The capital discipline that has hit now is an outcome of pressure in industry, where costs have gone up dramatically At the same time, oil price has stopped rising." As of 22 October, the price of WTI crude oil had fallen to $80.39, down from $101.15 a year prior.