ReedHycalog Annual Rig Census shows US rig fleet nears 2,300, global offshore fleet at 654

摘要

THE HIGH OIL and gas prices that the world saw in 2005 continued into 2006, bringing increases in most rig fleet categories and regions and spurring rig owners to mobilize additional units, according to the 53rd ReedHycalog Annual Rig Census. "Not only has the market upswing encouraged contractors to reactivate or refurbish their inventory of older units, but rig building programs have also been established and are now coming to fruition," said ReedHycalog president John Deane. The US rig fleet increased by 272 to 2,298 units. Most of the rig additions were newbuilds. The number of active rigs in the US was 2,200, up from 1,920 last year. US rig utilization stepped up another percentage point to 96 percent The total number of US rig owners increased by 31 to 257. In Canada, the total fleet went up to 799 from 741. Canadian utilization rose 10 percentage points to 84 percent. Worldwide, the offshore mobile fleet gained 13 units for a total of 654. Global offshore mobile utilization stayed unchanged at 85 percent. After gaining 211 units in 2005, the US fleet showed solid growth again in 2006, gaining 391 units. Newbuilds numbered 238, making up a significant majority of the 391 additions and representing a 10-fold increase over the 23 newbuilds that were added in 2005. That jump points clearly to the fact that the building boom is in full swing.